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No. 95. 


Flirt to Death. 

A NOVEL. 


BY 

LUKE LEARY. 


NEW YORK : 

J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
57 Rose Street. 










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THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


A NOVEL. 



BY 


LUKE LEARY. 




v . * 


THE SUNNYSIDE SERIES. No. 95. November, 1896. $3.00 per year. Entered at 
New York Post-Office as second-class matter. 


Copyright, 1896, by Luke Leary. 


NEW YORK : 

J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, £ r \h v " 

57 Rose Street. 



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THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


CHAPTER I. 

Jules Charter stood at the north end of his 
apartments, his form shrouded in the bay window 
portieres, his fingers tapping the surface of a window 
pane. He gazed intently upon the magnificent ma- 
rine view before him, his eyes feasting on the 
bizarre beauties of San Francisco bay that stretched 
out majestically until it melted into estuaries and 
lagoons or met the escarpments of the Marin shore 
where the hills and mountains seemed to frown down 
upon their own tremulous shadows. Alcatraz island, 
bristling with cannon and gloomy with fortifications, 
stood out in bold relief, like a grim sentinel, guard- 
ing the grandeur and welfare of the bay. To the 
west the break in the line of hills guided the eye 
to the Golden Gate, with its decaying crumbling 
fort poised on the side of a hill, beyond the vista 
exposed a shoulder of a promontory and a glimpse of 
the Pacific Ocean melting away into a hazy horizon, 
raise en scene. 


( 3 ) 


4 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


Scattered over this realistic picture were curious 
Chinese junks with dragon-shaped sails drifting aim- 
lessly about; fleets of fishing boats manned by 
swarthy Italians, shooting over the waves like flying 
fishes, their fin-like sails flashing in the brilliant sun- 
light ; imposing steamers, commerce-laden, their 
flags arid streamers silhouetted against the ethereal 
sky ; a menacing man-of-war, huge and glittering, 
looking more like a giant sea monster than a ship ; 
while in the channel incessant tugging at their 
anchors, rode a dozen idle merchantmen. 

“ It is nearly two years since I first gazed upon 
this scene, and it is grander now than ever,” said 
Jules Charter, regretfully deserting the window that 
had so often fascinated him. 

Youth no longer wooed Jules Charter, the court- 
ship had been discontinued some years ago, like a 
bauble it had faded from him never to return. It 
was only on his photographs that adolescence still 
clung to him. He made his debut into the autumnal 
life of bachelorhood with a round shiny face and 
rubicund cheeks and a tendency to perspire. Twice 
he wore the distinction of a candidate for matri- 
monial honors. Twice he or she repented. By de- 
grees his symmetrical figure became buried in the 
generous embonpoint he was rapidly accummulating, 
and if the truth must be stated he lacked many of 
the Adonis lines and Grecian facial embellishments 
that are so prominent in the composition of a hand- 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


some man, indeed the parsimony of good looks was 
no advantage to him, and no one was more impressed 
with this fact than the punctilious Jules himself. 
Nearly a half moon of baldness showed where time 
had left its footprints. The impress of many a 
nationality was on Jules’ personality and disguised 
the birthplace of his father. He had the nose of an 
Ottoman, the eyes of a Teutonic, the gestures of a 
Frenchman. 

The influences of an ample patrimony and a no- 
madic disposition which had descended to him, con- 
verted him into a shiftless itinerant, in which 
capacity he visited the four corners of the enticing 
globe, in the vain hope of encountering something 
more interesting than the sights of his own country 
— America. Much to his disappointment and chagrin 
his travels were devoid of stirring incidents and as 
commonplace as matins in a church service. But a 
seine of domestic troubles was yet awaiting him in 
the land he had but recently drifted to — California 
— where he arrived at a time when his thirst for new 
scenes and adventures had been palled, and he decided 
with a bold disregard for former associations to adopt 
that state as his future home. 

At the present moment he was busily engaged in 
planning, negotiating, contracting for a costly resi- 
dence. A few personal friends had reminded him of 
the inconsistency of building a home, when to all ap- 
pearances he had chosen a life of single blessedness. 


0 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“ You build the cage and there is no trouble in 
getting a bird for it,’’ he used to say in reply to such 
twitting remarks. And out of the irregular and 
ugly excavations rose a beautiful mansion, but the in- 
terior was a curious arrangement ; it was in truth all 
arranged for the occupancy of a man. The parlor 
was supplanted by a billiard room. A bowling alley 
spread itself along the hallway. There were gun 
racks, dog kennels, shooting galleries, a gymnasium 
and what not, in truth there was but one huge living 
room, which Jules had designed for his special com- 
fort, but this was fit for the occupancy of a king. 

While this incongruous residence was building, 
Jules decided on an outing. Summer was in full blos- 
som and butterflies and flowers beautified esplanades 
and the song birds chanted their merry chansons, until 
the uplands and savannas rang with melody as Jules 
flitted away to the seashore, and inhaled the aroma 
of new mown hay and the ambrosia of the wild 
flowers along the route. It was his initial trip to the 
pretty little seaside resort made pleasing by its ex- 
hilirating climate and simmering inviting beach. 
The huge ocean with its yellow bar of sandy beach 
for a border, the tongues of white feathery surf, the 
bold green hills breaking the sweep of the horizon, 
formed an exquisite picture. 

The bathing was fascinating and few could re- 
sist the delights of dipping into the blue ocean. 
Each afternoon a multitude of men and women dis- 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


7 


ported themselves in that delicious intoxicating surf, 
a little world all by itself. Jules in the midst of 
this summer gayety deduced an immense amount of 
enjoyment from his sojourn in this picturesque spot, 
impelled by absolute freedom from social functions, 
for he did not know a soul, save a few hotel at- 
taches, who regarded him in the light of a bonanza 
king. But alas for human expectations true enjoy- 
ment too often ends abruptly, and so in Jules’ case. 
On the sixth day after his arrival, and this was a 
luckless Friday, he plunged into the surf as usual, 
but the undertow seemed unusually strong and the 
water chilly. “ Oh well,” said Jules communing 
with himself, “ everything goes amiss on Friday.” 
For this man was as superstitious as a woman. He 
was swimming about in the deep water like a por- 
poise, diving to the bottom, or floating around on the 
bosom of a bit of the ocean. To the north the slim 
long pier jutted out boldly into the sea, to the south 
rose and fell with the regularity of a pendulum the 
floating raft, from which had just alighted two ladies 
who struck out for the beach that was dotted with 
its complement of summer guests. Jules heard the 
two ladies chat and laugh like two school girls and 
exploit their proficiency in swimming and calculating 
on the time it would require them to swim ashore. 

Jules found the raft inviting and climbed upon it 
to rest, but he had no sooner perched upon it like a 
turtle on a shoal, when he heard one of the ladies 


8 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


utter a piercing scream and the next moment to his 
consternation, the waves swallowed her and she dis- 
appeared beneath the water. Jules thought of a 
school of sharks infesting the water, but he was a 
brave man and quickly decided to go to the rescue 
of the lady, who was either a victim to the suction 
of an undertow, the convulsions of cricks, or the 
raids of a shark. Not a moment must be lost, and he 
jumped off the raft and swam rapidly to the spot 
where he saw the fair swimmer disappear. A second 
later she came to the surface alongside of Jules, half 
drowned. Jules’ arms encompassed her impotent 
form, and he brought her ashore after an exhausting 
struggle to keep above water. A small crowd had 
gathered, by the time he reached the sandy beach, to 
applaud his heroism ; some shook him by the hand, a 
few ladies offered him money, mistaking him for a 
mendicant villager, but Jules spurned rewards. He 
was completely exhausted, and dropped onto the 
shining beach amid the plaudits of the blatant crowd. 
The sand and the sun soon restored him, acting like 
an incubator. But the lady he rescued was conveyed 
to the hotel not far distant in a far more critical con- 
dition than Jules. Jules, much to his discomfort, 
was made the hero of the hour and could have been 
a social lion, had he manifested an inclination, and 
columns of the local press flaunted his heroism to his 
discomfort. He had meteor-like sprung into a promi- 
nence which he would gladly have exchanged for his 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


9 


whilom obscurity. Aggrandizement was never more 
undevisable than in this case. All his movements 
were now, he imagined, closely watched, his freedom 
abridged and his actions recorded in the diaries of 
maidens. Belles sought his acquaintance and asked 
for his photographs. He was flooded with invita- 
tions. So obnoxious had this prominence become to 
himself that he decided to leave the pretty little 
place and return to the city the following day. But 
before he had an opportunity to carry his resolution 
into effect he received a note of thanks from the 
mother of the lady he had rescued. And when he 
read the following note, a sense of pride rose within 
him, perhaps for the first time since he had emerged 
from boyhood. 

“ Your noble act in rescuing my daughter a few 
days ago has not been forgotten and she wishes to 
thank you in person. This she has been unable to 
do on account of her delicate condition. The doctor 
has now pronounced her well enough to receive a 
few visitors, and this note is to extend you an invita- 
tion to call this afternoon. 

“ Mrs. Palass.” 

Jules read the note and blushed like a November 
sunset. His heroism had born fruit. He hastily 
proceeded to write an answer in which he modestly 
acknowledged the honor of rescuing her daughter, 
but regretted that he had made arrangements to 
leave the seashore that afternoon for the city. He 


10 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


closed the billet by expressing a desire to call on her 
when they returned to the city. 

Somehow the wording of the note upon its third 
perusal seemed faulty and a reconstruction of the 
contents appeared necessary. After a moment’s re- 
flection he tore it up and wrote a different reply, in 
which he gracefully accepted the invitation to call 
that afternoon. And that note with its results — the 
call — marked the dawn of a new epoch in his hereto- 
fore serene life. 

“ This is rather romantic,” he ejaculated dreamily, 
after he had dispatched the note. “ But confound 
this invitation fails to specify the time of the after- 
noon I am expected to call, and I do not know what 
is considered the proper time. Two o’clock should 
not be any too early.” 

After a deal of pondering, during which Jules, 
with considerable effort reviewed his knowledge of 
etiquette that was tant soit peu, he decided on two 
o’clock as the appropriate hour. He did not remem- 
ber her face, and after a while his thoughts drifted 
into other but less fascinating channels. He blew 
a big hole into the cloud of blue fragrant tobacco 
smoke that enveloped him like a fog bank, and again 
the incidents of that rescue recurred to him with 
scarcely any effort, and he drew mental pictures of 
her, and listened to her imaginary conversation. 

“ What if I should fall in love with her,” he solilo- 
quized, entering upon a second reverie, and spring- 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


11 


ing up from the chair. “ Ah, it would be preposter- 
ous. But my valor in rescuing her would give me 
great prestige and no mistake about it. However, 
she may be a mere overgrown school girl and the 
disparity in our ages would keep me from appearing 
in the role of lover. Of course I must prepare a 
little speech as there will be quite a little audience 
present when I call, I presume.” 

In a short time Jules found himself in front of the 
apartment of the young lady. His nervousness had 
entirely disappeared as soon as he stopped the flight 
of his imagination. After a short time he was 
ushered into the chamber with needless ceremony, 
and a sympathetic feeling passed over him as he 
breathed the drug laden atmosphere with which the 
room was charged. In the middle of the room, in a 
huge armchair that hugged the centre table and upon 
which her arm rested, the young lady, whose life he 
had saved, formally received Jules Charter. The 
reception accorded Mr. Charter did not lack in cordi- 
ality. When he entered, all dignity, there was no 
one in the apartment that served as a drawing-room 
except the young lady and her mother, a very kind 
and benevolent looking matron, who possessed the 
rare faculty of making Jules feel perfectly at home 
before he had passed ten minutes in her society. 
The young lady smiled pleasantly when he entered, 
and the exchange of a few commonplace remarks 
paved the way for her to thank Jules. 


12 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“ Mr. Charter,” she began, in a melodious voice, 
“ I have taken the first opportunity to express my 
sincere thanks for your heroic deed. To you I owe 
my life. It was indeed fortunate that you were in 
the vicinity. When I struck the water my muscles 
contracted and I lost complete control of myself, and 
in spite of my efforts I sank to the bottom like a 
rock. I could see everything, but I was as helpless 
as a baby.” 

J ules bowed profusely, his face turned crimson, and 
he felt the few well chosen words that were to adorn 
the interview cling to the roof of his mouth as if 
they had been screwed there. 

“ I can assure you, Miss Palass, I have only per- 
formed my duty, a duty that I owed to my fellow 
creatures.” He groped about in vain for more 
words, but out of the confusion of ideas he could not 
evolve a single appropriate expression. “ You are a 
noble man,” said Mrs. Palass, relieving the painful 
pause in the conversation, that received Jules’ silent 
endorsement, “ and my husband joins me in thanking 
you for coming to the rescue of our daughter in the 
hour of danger. You have saved her life.” 

Jules was determined to make another attempt to 
bring forth his speech and imagined the time for its 
delivery had come, but a bevy of ladies came into the 
room from all directions, through folding doors Jules 
knew not where from. Introductions followed and 
all seemed so glad to meet a real hero as if real 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


13 


heroes were scare, and seemingly regarding it as the 
most important event of their lives, and Jules pres- 
ently found himself all alone among a multitude of 
buzzing, pretty and vivacious ladies, and forgot all 
about the little speech for the second time. Jules ob- 
served that the lady he had rescued was exceedingly 
beautiful, far more beautiful than any one else in 
that galaxy of beauty. 

“ She has always been so fond of the water,” ob- 
served Mrs. Palass, “ but I think this has been a 
good lesson for her and she will not venture into 
deep water soon again.” 

“ So you will try the surf again, by and by,” asked 
Jules, timidly. 

“ Oh yes, indeed. I expect to be out once more — 
doubtless in a few days, and I hope you will be in the 
vicinity to rescue me should another mishap befall 
me. 

“ You can rely upon me as a life preserver,” was 
the response. 

Jules laughed as he imagined himself swimming 
to her rescue again, and soon after took his leave 
bowing to the right and left, and almost glad that 
the ordeal was over, and wondering if he had made a 
favorable impression. When he turned his back upon 
that company he was a changed man. All thoughts 
of returning immediately to the city were abandoned 
by him. He lingered at the seashore, the only place 
on earth that now possessed any attraction for this 


14 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


love-lorn man. Already she had entered the depth of 
his soul and was taking root. Ah, how anxiously he 
was casting his eyes upon the scattered groups of 
summer guests to see if she was among them or if 
he could discern a rival, or looking around corners 
for a glimpse of that beautiful face. He could 
hardly wait until she made her appearance on the 
beach to brighten up his existence. He did not have to 
wait long, though her reappearance brought bitter 
moments, for he found to his grief she had legions of 
admirers, some of whom might prove veritable glad- 
iators in a contest for the heart of a maid who 
possessed as many personal charms as Miss Palass. 
But she accorded him an audience, though brief, in a 
corner of the veranda, nearly every day, while a 
small platoon of young men were loitering and sigh- 
ing in the parlor and accustomed haunts for an op- 
portunity to show their devotion. 

During two weeks into which many little inci- 
dents were crowded and during which jealously, 
heartaches and disappointments embittered more 
than one life, and cast a shadow upon the seashore 
existence of many a hotel guest, Jules devoted his 
entire time, aye his life, to a precarious courtship, 
worshipping at the crowded shrine of beauty— Octa 
Palass — and many an admirer retired from the scene 
in dismal disgust. Crowds came and went, but Jules 
never relaxed his attentions, and it became manifest 
that their friendship had ripened into genuine love. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


15 


Jules courted her with the fire, dash and ardor of 
youth ; though bald, fat and nearly forty, he breathed 
forth his intense love unabashed, but the shadow of 
a chaperon was always hovering about them. One 
night, however, she ingeniously broke through the 
barriers of chaperons and parents and joined Jules 
for a stroll. And it was a long time before the charm 
of that stroll melted away. 

Gentle zephyrs, laden with a delicious ambrosial 
fragrance, crept through the summer atmosphere, 
kissed the oscillating foliage on the trees and made 
the night divine. They walked in the direction of 
the beach, that Mecca for lovers, without any def- 
inite idea as to their destination. Now they passed 
some cottage where all was animation and life. 
Through the open windows and doors flowed the en- 
chanting music of violins and harps, and glimpses 
of the willowy and swaying figures of dancers and 
revellers could be seen within the illuminated 
house. Here and there the white ghost-like dresses 
revealed the localities of maidens who had conde- 
scended to come into the gardens and enjoy the 
night air and incidentally the company of young 
men. Every few steps they encountered stroll- 
ing lovers, and the melodious laughter which 
echoed through the bewitching night air, gave evi- 
dence that they had selected their companions 
wisely. The epidemic of lovers outdoors that even- 
ing had spread all over town, and their eyes did not 


16 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


encounter all, for the more timid ones thrust them- 
selves into the deep shadows that hung over nooks 
and corners. Suddenly, and before they knew it, the 
mighty ocean rose up before them, vast, solemn, im- 
pressive, majestic, like a new world, like an Elysium. 
The boom and murmur of the waters, the ripple of 
waves were inspiring and suggestive of deep emo- 
tion. Who could extinguish the smouldering em- 
bers of love amid such surroundings ! The moon- 
beams piroutted on the crest of waves, or flung their 
silver darts into deeper shifting waters. From shore 
to horizon stretched a continuous chain of silvery 
moonbeams, gleaming and sparkling, dipping its 
links of light into leagues of water and uniting sky 
and ocean with a band of silvery light. 

“ The billows fall, while Neptune lays his mace 
On the rough sea and smooths its furrowed face.” 

Dryden. 

“ No, no no,” she murmured to his urgent plead- 
ings. 

The crest fallen J ules turned his face from her, a 
wounded and crushed wooer. 

“ Are you very much disappointed,” she asked, 
pressing his arm that sent a spark of encouragement 
through him, and laughing with a fiendish mocking 
ring in her voice. 

“ Yes, terribly. My life, my happiness, everything 
depended on your answer. You have blighted my 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


17 


life. I cared only for yon. Hope, ambition, every- 
thing dear to the heart of man, swept away by that 
brief but firm answer. You were an oasis in the 
desert of my solitude,” said Jules, forgetting the 
sublimity of the night’s charms. 

“ I am dreadfully sorry, but my parents are op- 
posed to you. I feel as bad about it as you do, but 
it cannot be helped,” she replied, with a toss of her 
head that Jules interpreted as unfavorable to his 
cause. 


2 


18 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


CHAPTER II. 

Summer like a bird of beautiful plumage had 
taken its flight. The seashore had changed from a 
delightful spot to a cold cheerless place, neglected 
and deserted, save for a few gamins, or a disappointed, 
disconsolate wayfarer. The summer guests who had 
made the place ring with merriment had departed. 
In place of zephyrs, cold piercing winds swept over 
the beach with an angry moan. Back to the city 
once more with its bluster, roar and confusion, its 
excitement and winter gayety.. 

The double columns of street lights blazed and 
flashed along the clean swept avenue, dispelling the 
sombre darkness, disclosing spectral rows of shade 
trees and affording glimpses and dim outlines of 
palatial residences that nestled in the shadows of the 
night. The silence of the evening was penetrated 
by the noisy movement of a procession of carriages, 
their glistening windows revealing, like a mirror, a 
pair of shining eyes, a fringe of lace, or a white- 
gloved hand, fluttering up and down the glass like a 
caged bird. An occasional peal of laughter rose 
above the hum of wheels and the staccato of plung- 
ing hoofs. The train of vehicles rolled ponderously 
by and its clatter echoed in the alley, carrying with 
it suggestions of a bridal party. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


19 


Jules Charter, enveloped in a circle of fleeting 
peace and contentment, started leisurely on his way 
to the reception that was to be. A knot of loiterers 
lounged contentedly at the corner cigar emporium, 
half hidden by a film of tobacco smoke. They 
stared annoyingly at him and made flippant remarks 
not calculated to promote good humor. He pro- 
ceeded unmolested to Furlong’s, where by previous 
arrangement he had engaged a carriage. He moved 
restively about the place, in which a few lamps 
flickered dismally, for he was late and the carriage 
was not ready, his well dressed figure contrasting 
oddly with the stablemen and gamins that seemed to 
infest the place like so many rodents. 

“ To the Hotel Orient,” were Jules’ peremptory in- 
structions to the driver, as he swung himself, with 
careless ease and a graceful movement, into the car- 
riage. He had just time to adjust himself comfort- 
ably when the vehicle rolled over the planking and 
shot into the street, like a train of cars, swaying to 
and fro with the wild abandon of a rocking chair. 
It sped rapidly along a level stretch of the street 
until a hill checked its speed and the wheels began 
to revolve slowly up the hill, only to whirl down a 
steep grade and mount a second hill. The up-town 
Orient occupied a commanding site on the brow of a 
hill, a choice location for a citadel were one needed 
in San Francisco, where hills, as plentiful as church 
spires, rear their tops high into the atmosphere. 


20 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


When the party of Jules and the driver drew up 
in front of the hotel, a line of carriages, resembling a 
black wall, flanked the entrance to the mouse-colored 
building. Within, Octa Palass, nearly smothered in 
furs and radiant with jewels, was impatiently await- 
ing his arrival, and nervously drumming upon the 
table with the handle of an expensive fan. 

“ Jules is half an hour late for the first time. 
Can it be that he is growing indifferent? ” said Octa 
to her mother, looking at the expensive mantelpiece 
clock and changing the conversation from her father 
to Jules Charter. “ I wonder what kind of an ex- 
cuse he will have.” 

“ Whatever the excuse, it will not be the truth,” 
said her mother, in a voice full of accusations. 

“ Nothing I hope will mar the evening’s pleasure,” 
said Octa, after a pause in the conversation. 

“ I too hope a pleasant evening is in store for you. 
You seem to have forebodings. You should be more 
cheerful on such an occasion. What could possibly 
happen at a reception. They are such harmless af- 
fairs,” returned her mother, calmly surveying her 
daughter with an air of pride, for she was notably 
beautiful, and the soft rich gowns and cobwebs of 
lace and lines of ribbon heightened her beauty. Hers 
was a beauty that defied description. A beauty that 
consisted of medium stature and perfect figure and 
such exiguity of waist ! Luxuriant blonde hair 
crowned her head. Her large, lustrous, sparkling 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


21 


eyes seemed to talk. A delicate cream-like com- 
plexion, revealing the blue veins, emphasized her 
beauty. A pair of slender eyebrows swept across 
her brows and matched her uniformly arched temples. 
A bright winsome smile played incessantly on her 
cherry red lips. Her small mouth nearly concealed 
her treasure of ivory teeth. Her faultless chin was 
graced by an exquisite dimple. And did not her 
small rosy ears of infinite beauty, her slender throat 
of ivory whiteness, her white hands, her nicely 
tapering fingers, her graceful gestures and her even 
and dignified walk embody genuine beauty and 
loveliness ? 

To the outward world it looked as if Dame For- 
tune had been generous to the Palass family, but be- 
hind all this show of wealth lurked ominous shad- 
ows, and the gaunt skeletons of misfortune rattled in 
closets. A storm cloud had come over the fortunes 
of the Palass house and their riches seemed to melt 
away like water through a sieve. Even the necessity 
to dismiss Octa’s maid in the interest of economy 
became imperative* a measure that brought tears to 
Octa’s eyes, for she loved her maid, who was often 
the recipient of a confidence, or a secret. The 
questions of the curious at the hotel about the maid 
were met with the information that she had been 
granted a leave of absence. 

Jules presently stepped over the threshold of the 
Palass apartment flushed with elation. His happi- 


22 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


ness could not be measured by words and his face 
was aglow with smiles. He chatted suavely, rapidly, 
but aberrantly, and presented a most anomalous ex- 
cuse for his tardiness, during which Octa and her 
mother exchanged knowing glances. Octa soon 
checked the flow of his words by urging their 
prompt departure for the evening’s social Mecca, the 
reception, the vin d'honneur. There was no further 
delay in starting, except the time consumed by the 
mother’s kiss and words of farewell and wishes for a 
happy evening. 

To Jules the very corridors seemed to smile, while 
his feet only encountered air, and as they passed 
through the hotel they directed swift animated 
glances at each other, like people who have found 
congenial companions. She stepped into the carriage, 
closely followed by the urban Jules. No sooner had 
her escort entered when she drew herself together, 
as if to leap from the carriage, while Jules was seized 
with mild alarm. 

“Dear me,” she exclaimed, “ I have forgotten my 
fan. I left it in my room. This makes the second 
time I have forgotten it within a week.” 

Jules was upon his feet in a moment, ready to 
tender his services and gallantry. 

“ You frightened me. I thought something serious | 
had befallen you. The fan is a trifling matter. It ! 
will be no trouble to get it,” he said, with a merry 
laugh, as he turned to go after it. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


23 


“Please do not permit mamma to detain yon. 
She often extends her two minute chats into the 
half hour.” 

“ Do not be alarmed. You are too precious to be 
forgotten, even for a few moments. Besides I will 
heed your precaution.” 

Within the hotel Jules encountered many of the 
guests of the Orient on their way to theatres, parties, 
or other places of amusement, such as lectures, ex- 
hibitions, fairs, concerts, civic meetings ; the extrava- 
gant to carriages, the frugal to street cars, while 
some were swelling the army of pedestrians. A few 
were included in his circle of acquaintances, and 
with these he exchanged a nod or a pleasant word. 

Mrs. Palass stood in the doorway of her apartment 
and held out the fan, that indispensable feminine 
weapon and protection for which he had come, with 
apologies for her daughter and herself for causing 
such a great amount of trouble. A minute later he 
returned to the carriage, waved his hand to the 
driver, the door clicked sharply, generating a puff of 
air that fanned his face. Once within he handed 
the fan to the lady opposite. 

“ That’s not my fan,” said a female voice, not 
familiar to Jules, while a gloved hand pushed it 
back. 

A dense darkness pervaded the carriage and Jules 
was unable to discern the features of the other occu- 
pant of the carriage. Before their was time for the 


24 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


carriage to start, the door opened and a small man 
stepped within. 

“Your pardon a thousand times,” said Jules, 
apologetically, as he realized that he had gotten into 
the wrong carriage and started to rise. “ I think my 
presence here is a mistake. I am Jules Charter.” 

“Here’s a scoundrel who is proud of his name. 
What right have you in this carriage ? ” fiercely asked 
the stern voice, also unfamiliar to Jules. 

“ It is all a mistake. Stop the carriage and I shall 
leave it at once.” 

But Jules did not wait until the small man directed 
the carriage to stop, but opened the door himself and 
commanded the driver to halt. 

“ You shall pay dearly for this impudence and in- 
sulting behavior,” continued the harsh voice. 

“ I am responsible for my acts,” was the quick and 
defiant reply of Jules, as the carriage stopped. 

“ I have the honor to present you with my card. 
You shall hear from me further,” continued the 
stranger, in a nonchalant but weak voice. 

Jules thrust the card disdainfully into his overcoat 
pocket without looking at it and slowly proceeded 
to remove a card from his own card case, and hand- 
ing it to the stranger started to leave the carriage. 
As he did so a pair of hands pushed him violently 
and unceremoniously out of the vehicle, nearly pre- 
cipitating him to the ground. A street lamp shed 
its faint rays upon the carriage, lighting up the 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. v 25 

countenance of the occupants, and Jules beheld a 
face that haunted him the balance of the evening. 
The small features of the man in the carriage were 
rendered repulsive by eyes that blazed like a serpent’s 
and diffused a sinister light over it. A flame of rage 
shot over Jules and he shouted defiance into the 
carriage. 

“ You shall hear from me for this incivility.” 

The ominous silence was broken by the carriage 
door slamming with a heavy thud, but Jules neither 
heard nor saw it, for he continued his threatening, 
menacing demonstration until the carriage rolled 
away and left him standing in the street shaking his 
clenched fist after the departing vehicle, and berat- 
ing the ungentlemanly conduct of the mean, small 
man within, and invoking the evil spirit to send 
anathemas upon him. 

The short distance to the hotel was quickly cov- 
ered by Jules, who, dizzy with rage, fairly flew. He 
found his own carriage still waiting and Octa Palass 
almost distracted by the suspense occasioned by his 
absence. 

“We shall positively be the very last arrivals at 
the reception,” she said, woefully, despairingly, and 
with a touch of anger in her voice. “ I felt sure 
mamma would detain you.” 

“ The responsibility rests entirely upon my own 
shoulders. It don’t seem possible, but I stepped into 
the wrong carriage on my return from the hotel with 


26 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


your fan, and I did not discover the mistake until we 
had started up.” 

“ An embarrassing position. How did you explain 
your strange actions ? ” 

“ That task has not yet been accomplished. I hu- 
miliated myself with apologies, but my explanation 
was looked upon with disfavor, for I was thrust pell- 
mell out of the carriage.” 

“ All on account of my fan.” 

“ On account of my preoccupation, near-sighted- 
ness and carelessness.” 

“ Yes, and this carriage changed positions while 
you were gone.” 

“ That was the real cause, then. I did not think I 
could be quite so stupid. If I am not challenged by 
the man who gave me this card,” said Jules, brand- 
ishing a card in his hand, “ I will challenge him to 
mortal combat.” 

“ Why, Mr. Carter. When did you come into 
possession of all that courage ? ” 

“ My courage is not to be trifled with.” 

“But I never saw you serious in my life.” 

“ The surface indicates but little what is below. 
A retiring disposition often conceals a monument of 
courage. After all, why should one lack in courage ? 
It is a noble attribute, and danger often melts before 
a shield of courage. The thrill in facing danger 
should compensate one for the risk, besides it brings 
about a consciousness that the eyes of the world are 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


27 


upon you and if you fare ill, why all is over and you 
surely may die in a far less tragical manner than in 
a duel, for instance.” 

“ My advice is not to invite trouble and strife. It 
seems to me there is enough in this world without 
seeking it. I am sure we can find much better oc- 
cupation than to quarrel over a mistake that may have 
been unavoidable, as mistakes sometimes are. You 
certainly cannot have a duel in contemplation. ,, 

“ Yes, but I have. I will not submit to insult, not 
if it costs me my life. I care not who he is, but let 
him insult Jules Charter and he shall pay dearly for 
it. But I must see what name is on that card.” 

Jules drew from his pocket a gold match case and 
producing a light read “ Manuel Silva.” 

“A Spaniard, evidently,” exclaimed Jules. 

“ Their carriage stood in front of the hotel ? ” 

“Precisely — just where I thought mine had 
stopped.” 

“ Then they must be residents of the Orient. 
There are several Spanish families at the hotel, but 
I never heard the name of Silva.” 

They talked of duels and their consequences and 
became steeped in solemn thoughts, until they be- 
held a mansion before them with lights shining from 
every window, casting a bright halo around the 
building in which mirth and gayety and merriment 
reigned supreme. They soon formed part of the bril- 
liant gathering at the reception, and their thoughts 


28 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


drifted into less funereal channels. The reception 
was indeed a brilliant affair. Distinguished people 
in all walks of life, the motley noblesse of the land, 
graced the occasion with their presence, and beauty 
and fashion added eclat to the occasion. There were 
rich bankers and jurists and lawyers, magnates and 
nabobs and grand vizers of wealth and a column of 
local kings. There was the wheat king, the cattle 
king, the steamship king, the land king, the silver 
king, the bonanza king, and so on ; though un- 
crowned, but still kings. 

The evening had well and pleasantly advanced far 
into the night when Jules, with vivid recollections of 
his blunder, suddenly became agitated and the color 
fled from his face, as he saw a diminutive man with 
a tall lady pass through the hall. It was the small 
face of the man with the blazing eyes he had seen 
in the carriage under the glare of the street lamp. 
That face was indelibly lithographed on his mind. 
The little man had all the indications of one who 
manages to keep his promises in the face of adversity, 
a little wiry, aggressive, and unyielding fellow who 
is difficult to crush. Too soon the reception drew to 
a close and the guests in clusters regretfully made 
their way to carriages, among which were Jules 
Charter and Octa Palass. 

“ The reception has been a great social event, a 
pronounced success,” said Octa, as she pressed the 
fur collar a little closer to her neck, for it was a 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


29 


damp raw morning, made cheerless by a clammy fog 
that enshrouded the city. 

“ Mrs. Donner, I am sure must feel highly elated,” 
replied Jules, pushing his hat into an oblique posi- 
tion. 

“ She certainly has good cause.” 

“ But Mrs. Donner’s receptions, teas and parties 
are not half as interesting as our own affairs,” he 
said, pointing to his companion and himself in turn. 

“ I was not aware I had any affairs worthy of con- 
sideration. Of course you have.” 

“Affairs of extraordinary interest cluster around 
you. You see I have not given up hope. It 
is nearly six months since our friendship has com- 
menced. A friendship that in my case has ripened 
into love. I was too hasty before. I have but one 
ambition in life, that is to make you happy. You 
shall want nothing that the heart craves or the mind 
desires. Your wishes will only have to be made 
known, and they will be willingly fulfilled without 
dissent, Love has whispered to me, and when love 
whispers both ears listen. You are constantly in 
my thoughts and that is a guarantee of my undying 
affection. In the role of a wooer I can plead my 
case but poorly, but what I lack in flowery language, 
I make up in earnestness. I am striving to convince 
you how much I love you. Mine is the simple love 
of a simple fellow. Intrust your love into my keep- 
ing and it shall be guarded with solicitous care. 


30 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


You alone in this world can bring to me the sun- 
shine of happiness.” 

Jules, ebullient with love, went madly on, declar- 
ing his affection without waiting for an answer, 
sometimes looking into her eyes for an answer, 
sometimes gazing out of the carriage window into 
the blank unsympathetic night. 

“Mr. Charter, you are losing your dignity. I 
supposed you had dismissed me long ago and that I 
was only regarded in the light of a friend. Indeed 
you surprise me very much. You have never been 
so serious as this evening before, and I liked you for 
that.” 

“ But people must be serious occasionally.” 

“ You say you love me intensely and would do 
everything in your power for me ? ” 

“ Yes, yes. Then you will at least consider my 
proposal ? ” 

“You endeavor to dazzle me by. a profusion of 
promises, mere buncombe perhaps. You are aware 
of the discrepancies in our ages. How do you pro- 
pose to overcome that ? ” 

u By a check for twenty thousand, a thousand for 
every year. I think that would even up our ages.” 

“ Mr. Charter do not imagine that my love can be 
purchased by money. It must be won,” she said, in- 
dignantly. 

“ My overture should not occasion offense. It is 
nothing more than a gift. For the matter of that it 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


31 


is an old-established custom. All men love money, 
aye worship it. I am willing to part with that which 
I love to gain your love. So here you have additional 
proof of my love. It is simply a guarantee, call it 
engagement money.” 

Octa buried her head in her fur collar and was 
silent for a long time, save a few susurrant sighs 
that escaped her. 

“ True happiness is a rare thing. If I knew I 
could make one man happy I would consider that I 
had accomplished something in this world, performed 
a noble deed.” 

“Then you will accept me at last,” said Jules, 
grasping hold of her and showering kisses upon her. 
“Noblest, fairest — queen of my heart — Goddess of 
Beauty — adorable, enchanting, bewitching creature 
— my wildest dreams realized — the proudest moment 
of my life.” 

When Jules had somewhat subsided she said : 

“ Mr. Charter.” 

“ I have another name.” 

“ Well Jules, has it occurred to you that it is very 
late and that we should be at home instead of in this 
inhospitable carriage ? ” 

“ It seems but a little while since we left the 
Donner party. But sure enough it is nearly four 
o'clock. Two hours in the carriage. It doesn’t 
seem possible.” 

Jules stopped the carriage and sharply demanded 


32 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


of the driver an explanation for consuming two 
hours to drive as many miles. The driver shut one 
eye and claimed he lost his way in the fog, and as he 
was to receive extra compensation for driving about 
town for some reason in which he had no direct in- 
terest, but in reality to give Jules an opportunity to 
plead his case, he was very vehement in denouncing 
the fog and topography of the city. However, the 
speed of the carriage was accelerated, and in a few 
minutes more they arrived at the gray hotel with its 
tiers of bay windows balanced on the side of the build- 
ing, on which the shadows of four eucalyptus trees 
danced fantastically. Jules dismissed the driver and 
carriage then and there, preferring to walk home. It 
was nearly daylight when he reached his apartments, 
having had many incidents crowded into that brief 
night, and he could not help exclaiming : 

“ Oh, what an evening ! At last the monotony of 
my life is broken, but things have turned out satis- 
factorily, so I mustn’t complain.” 

Then he dropped into a chair and fell asleep. As 
for Octa Palass, she made her way noiselessly into 
her parents’ apartments, where nothing but the man- 
telpiece clock, which seemed to make as much noise 
as fifty clocks, broke the stillness of the night. She 
was so fatigued by the festivities that she flung her- 
self upon the lounge for a few minutes’ rest before 
preparing to retire. And as soon as she was asleep 
visions of receptions and chevaliers and wooers kneel- 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


33 


ing before her haunted her. And finally her father 
appeared in her dreams. She saw him rise from his 
restless couch, his hair disheveled, strange gleams 
flashing from his sunken eyes, and engaged in mak- 
ing preparations to take his own life. She rushed to 
his side and seized hold of the weapon. At that mo- 
ment she awoke with the horrors of the dream fresh 
in her memory, and noiselessly entered the adjoining 
room to see if her father was there. By the dim 
light that found its way into the room she saw her 
father’s face sunken in the pillow, pallid but calm, 
and she placed her hand upon his cheek and it was 
warm with life. But her dream in part was true. 
Ten minutes before she awoke her father with pistol 
in hand passed by her. The dim light revealed her 
and lit up her face, and he stopped in his wild insane 
desire and gazed upon her. 

“My child,” he exclaimed. “I must fight this 
battle to the bitter end. I will not give up. I owe 
it to myself and my family to fight this the greatest 
battle of my life,” and he carefully placed the shin- 
ing pistol into its accustomed bureau drawer and re- 
tired once more. Her presence had saved her father. 

Later that morning Hugh Palass was sitting in his 
apartments nervously reading the morning paper, 
when Octa approached and tenderly kissed her father. 

“ My dear father,” she said, as she stroked his hair 
streaked with gray, “ you seem ill this morning ? ” 

“ Yes, my child and little wonder,” he said as he 
3 


34 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


caressed her. “ The awful strain is telling upon me. 
Ruin stares me in the face wherever I go.” 

“ I wish I could help you.” 

“ But there is nothing that you can do, and to 
worry will only burden you when you should be free 
from cares. It is quite enough for me to worry. 
Why are you about so early ? ” 

“ I heard you had begun the day already and I 
wished to keep you company and perhaps to tell you 
that Jules has proposed again.” 

“ And you have not accepted him,” said her father, 
rising from the chair. 

“ Oh, yes,” she replied, with a laugh. 

“ Thank goodness,” said her father as he sank back 
into the depths of the chair with a sigh of relief. “ I 
feel easier. Let the crash come if it must. The hand 
of ruin can now accomplish its work. I was fearful 
that the failure would injure your prospects.” 

In the dim light Mrs. Palass was seen approaching 
from the bed-chamber, her eyes heavy from lack of 
sleep, for she too felt the strain of an impending fi- 
nancial disaster. 

“ So my child you are engaged ? ” 

“ Yes, but I do not love him.” 

“Not love him? Why have you encouraged him 
then?” 

“ Tt was all done to help my father, whom I love ; 
but Jules shall never learn that I do not love him.” 

“ My only fear is you will not be happy with a 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


35 


man you do not love. But my child, you say you 
have accepted him to help your father. In what 
way will it help us ? ” 

“ Oh, he is to deliver to me a check for twenty 
thousand dollars.” 

“ Then we must hasten the wedding on some pre- 
text or other, and I may yet be saved,” said her 
father. 

“My child,” said her mother, “you have done 
wrong. You have sold yourself. I trust it was not 
your suggestion.” 

“ It was done at my instance. I mentioned the 
discrepancy in our ages and he immediately sug- 
gested to wipe out the difference by a money consid- 
eration. Of course I vehemently opposed it, feign- 
ing disgust and indignation, but I assumed the role 
of a good Samaritan and stooped to make him happy 
by accepting him.” 

With this the daily life of the Palass family was 
inaugurated. Hugh Palass was revolving in his 
mind the hostile attitude of his large and increasing 
circle of creditors, and his wife conjectured too well 
the food his mind was devouring. 

“ Have we no more possessions that can be con- 
verted into money ? ” 

“ Nothing but the desert lands, and who wants 
them ? I doubt if I could find one who would ac- 
cept them as a gift. It would be a sad waste of time 
trying to convert them into money.” 


36 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH 


Before he left for down town to face his torment- 
ors a green lithographed check, duly certified to, 
glistening with figures, and drawn in favor of Octa 
Palass and containing the dashing signature of Jules 
Charter, was received by her through special mes- 
senger. Enclosed with it was this note : 

“ In explanation of my haste in sending you this 
check, I can only state that it is to prove how sin- 
cerely I love you, and trust you will accept it in the 
spirit in which it is tendered. 

“ Jules Charter.” 

The parents looked at each other in astonishment. 

Octa lost no time in conveying it to her father. 
Mr. Palass looked at it several times and then burst 
into tears, not tears of joy, but tears of humiliation. 
“ Was his daughter compelled to sell her affection, 
her happiness,” he asked himself. He was about 
to refuse it, but she stopped him. 

“ Take it, father, take it, anything but ruin.” 

He kissed his daughter tenderly, meanwhile ex- 
claiming, “ Saved, saved.” 

They watched him as he disappeared with the 
check in his possession. It had a salutary effect 
upon him. His step was more agile, and the dark, 
deep lines in his face already seemed in a measure 
eliminated. When he passed boldly into his office 
every one connected with the place, greeted him with 
cheerful spontaneous words, instead of the forced 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


37 


smiles and labored salutations that he had been ac- 
customed to receive the past four months. 

Had they heard of his daughter’s check and knew 
that the credit of the house would be maintained? 

“What event was transpiring now ? Would the 
Palass house survive ? ” he asked himself, puzzling 
over the complex situation. 

He was not kept in intolerable doubt and agoniz- 
ing suspense long. His confidential man, with 
smiles of satisfaction playing up and down his con- 
tented corpulent countenance, came forward with 
the airs of a wise man, and pointed in the direction 
of the inner office. Mr. Palass gloomily followed 
his private secretary. 

“ They have struck it,” he began, as they passed 
side by side through the door. 

“ Struck it ! ” exclaimed Mr. Palass in a dazed 
manner, his eyes wandering about the familiar fur- 
niture and fixtures. 

“ Yes, sir, struck oil. You will be numbered 
among millionaires inside of a month,” prophesied 
the confidential man, suddenly becoming grave as he 
passed his employer a telegram with as much care 
and solemnity as if it had been a death warrant. 

Poor Mr. Palass was stricken speechless for a mo- 
ment, but he presently recovered and rubbed his 
hands in glee, and advanced toward his paper-laden 
desk. His fingers nervously clutched papers and 
documents that were littered about him. 


38 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“ Where are my creditors, my tormentors ? ” he 
asked, running his hands through his thin hair that 
saved him from baldness. 

“ They beat a hasty retreat as soon as I displayed 
this telegram. We will not be bothered by them 
soon again.” 

Hugh Palass had been transformed into a new be- 
ing. His jubilant spirits did not permit him to en- 
gage in office routine. It was with difficulty that 
he could give sufficient attention to the writing of a 
pressing letter. A few words of instructions and he 
hastened home to apprise his family of the good for- 
tune that was lighting up his pathway. Mrs. Palass 
saw him approach the gate and shuddered. 

She watched him with palpitating anxiety. She 
was filled with alarm by his return at that time of 
the day. 

“ The crash has come before the check could be 
used. All is over. We may as well prepare our- 
selves for the shock ! ” she exclaimed, throwing her 
arms around Octa’s neck. 

She attempted to avoid him, for she could not lis- 
ten to his tale of ruin, but before she had time to 
flee he burst into the room, his face aglow with 
smiles. 

“ What brings you home at this time ? ” she asked, 
with a stern countenance, ignoring his smiles. 

“ Very good news,” he hastened to explain, seeing 
that his wife was very much alarmed. “ The desert 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


39 


lands have redeemed our fading fortunes. While 
prospecting for water they have struck oil. I will 
soon be a rich man again, far richer than I have ever 
been. I return the check as I do not need it. My 
creditors have given me all the time I desire.” 

“Thank goodness it is time relief has come. This 
horrible feeling of being ruined is at last driven 
away. You are quite sure there is no mistake about 
it?” 

“ I have abundant proof. I am sure of that. What 
now aggravates me most is to think of the period of 
worry I have passed through when practically I was 
on the threshold of vast riches.” 

Octa alone received the intelligence with indiffer- 
ence. She buried her pretty face in her hands and 
became deeply absorbed in meditation. 

“ It is very gratifying,” she exclaimed. “ I alone 
will suffer from the threatened ruin, as alas I became 
engaged to Mr. Charter.” 

“ But the engagement can be broken. It would 
not be the first instance of the kind,” returned her 
mother, coolly. 

“ It will never be broken by me. There is such 
a thing as honor,” said Octa, giving her mother a 
mild look of reproach. 


40 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


CHAPTER III. 

Jules, with many an explication, displayed the 
plans of his residence to Octa, who pronounced them 
marvels of eccentricity and originality, but unfortu- 
nately a building constructed on the proposed lines 
would be ill-adapted for residence purposes. She 
embellished her opinion with the declaration that 
she would never live in such an ill-arranged house, 
in which inconvenience seemed the predominant fea- 
ture, where the kitchen was located in the garret and 
the parlor upstairs. 

“ You can build the house this way,” she said, 
evolving a rough sketch of her idea of the interior 
arrangement. “ With this change it will be suitable 
but not desirable for a family to live in. First of all 
the shooting gallery comes out, and I don’t want the 
billiard room.” 

Jules manifested a proneness to adopt Octa’s sug- 
gestions. He proceeded to take elaborate notes for 
the architect to digest, he explained. 

u The shooting gallery comes out and in place of 
the billiard room ? ” 

“ A drawing-room,” she answered, emphatically. 

But Jules , did not adopt all her suggestions, for 
the shooting gallery and the billiard room remained 
in the house as originally planned. 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


41 


Jules narrated his singular experiences on the 
night of the reception to his associate and compan- 
ion, Claude Morton, who went into convulsive laugh- 
ter over the affair and treated the matter as a huge 
joke ; but a few days afterwards the complacency of 
Claude Morton was rudely disturbed, for he received 
a challenge to fight a duel. Claude experienced sev- 
eral sensations, that of amusement first, but he be- 
came more serious as he re-read the letter. The 
challenge was no idle threat, forsooth, the challenger 
was terribly in earnest and meant trouble. 

“ There must be some mistake,” he said, as he 
held the missive away from him at arm’s length, with 
as much fear as if it had been a bomb or an infernal 
machine. He racked his brain to fathom the pro- 
found mystery. At last a flash of suspicion pene- 
trated the darkness and he hurried to Jules, who was 
in the midst of a consultation with the architect, 
talking about changes in the plans. 

“ Have you given my card to any one ? ” asked 
Claude, excitedly. 

Jules became retrospective, and putting his hand 
to his forehead, as if to stimulate his brain, ex- 
claimed : 

“ Not that I am aware of.” 

“ Now are you quite sure?” said Claude, prod- 
ding him on to a still greater mental activity. 

“ Unless it was during the night of the reception. 
You gave me one of your new cards that day.” 


42 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“ That’s it. Here I have just been challenged by 
a man whom I do not know. I never could have 
given him offense.” 

“ Who is this spoiling for a duel ? ” 

“ Manuel Silva.” 

“ That’s the man. This is my affair. I will take 
the matter out of your hands. He shall not lack for 
an adversary.” 

“ That will be quite impossible. The challenge is 
addressed to me. It is not transferable. Leave the 
entire matter in my hands.” 

“ I shall not occupy a weak position in this affair. 
I, myself, mean to challenge him if you succeed in 
getting this one withdrawn.” 

“ Very well, it will relieve me of the unpleasant 
duty of accepting, and will leave him free to issue 
the challenge to you,” said Claude, in a mollifying 
voice, though he had a different solution of the prob- 
lem in contemplation. “ You should therefore hear 
from him to-day or to-morrow,” continued Claude. 

This ended the interview. Claude left Jules at 
liberty to join the architect, and after excursions 
into two different hotels found Silva, the small man 
with the fierce eyes. He had some difficulty in ob- 
taining an audience, but finally succeeded, and at 
once stated the object of his mission and went into a 
lengthy explanation of the events leading up to the 
time the offense was committed, trumpeting the vir- 
tues of Jules Charter. The Spaniard w&s not as 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


43 


easily convinced as Claude could have wished. He 
insisted on an interview with Jules. This Claude 
was especially anxious to avoid, knowing Jules’ tin- 
der-box temperament. 

“ Please state again the name of the gentleman 
who entered my carriage ? ” 

“ Jules Charter.” 

“ Bid the gentleman to enter,” said the Spaniard 
to the servant, who had brought in a card. Claude, 
again impressed with Jules’ fiery temper, turned pale 
when he saw a visitor announced. Was Jules about 
to make a personal call on the Spaniard? He had 
surmised correctly, for Jules, a moment later entered 
himself, somewhat agitated and a little abrupt. 
Claude simulated indifference as to the outcome of 
the meeting, and acted as master of ceremonies. 
After a cordial handshake between the belligerents, 
he became easier and lost all fear of a bloody en- 
counter, for the entire matter was explained and 
both humbly apologized. 

They were about to separate as friends when the 
breach showed signs of reopening. The Spaniard 
rose, and with a sneer on his face, offered a parting 
advice. 

“ You had better learn some manners and not step 
into other people’s carriages quite so freely the next 
time, or you will fare worse than on this occasion.” 

« I will take none of your advice,” hissed J ules, 
assuming a militant attitude, and the next moment he 


44 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


flew in front of the Spaniard and rained a few blows 
upon the offender’s face with his open hand. This 
produced the same effect as pouring oil into a fire 
and further complicated the situation. The 135 
pounds of Spaniard were no match for the bulk of 
Jules, and he made a feeble resistance. Claude 
sprang between the two and counselled peace. 

“ I withdraw my apology,” shouted J ules. 

“ The quarrel is renewed. I must now be avenged 
at all hazards,” vociferated the Spaniard. 

The two faced each other with glaring eyes and 
menacing attitudes ready for a clash, and Claude had 
no sooner separated them when they sprang before 
each other again, and yet Claude’s interview had not 
covered ten minutes. While the quarrel was brew- 
ing, a tall senorita, the wife of the Spaniard, entered 
the room, like an angel of peace. Her very presence 
seemed to disarm them of their fighting moods. 

“ The gentleman who entered our carriage, I be- 
lieve,” she said, pointing to Jules. “ I am convinced 
it was a mistake. Come, you shall not quarrel over 
that affair. Be friends, and you will have nothing to 
regret.” 

“ But he dealt me a blow,” protested Silva. 

She looked at Jules with piercing, inquiring eyes. 

“ Have you been guilty of such an ungentlemanly 
act?” she asked, pointing her finger at him. 

“Yes,” said Jules meekly, while advancing toward 


TEE FLIRT TO FEATS. 


45 


her, “in the heat of passion I lost control of my 
temper.” 

“ You should be taught a lesson. You need it. 
My husband is an officer in the Mexican army and a 
duel would be disastrous, as he has the reputation of 
being the best pistol shot in Mexico. I promised to 
use my influence at the earnest solicitation of your 
dearest friend. So there shall be no duel.” 

“ It seems we cannot be enemies, so we must be 
friends,” said the subdued Silva, extending the glad 
hand of fellowship to Jules, who scowled furiously 
but received it with averted eyes. So the smoke 
curled from the calumet and cast its soothing influ- 
ence over those turbulent spirits. 

Manuel Silva, officer and duellist, was on a vaca- 
tion to the United States and what was more, held 
the commission of general in the Mexican army. 
Octa had lost no time in calling on Mrs. Silva, who 
happened to be a San Francisco lady, and begged 
her to intercede for Jules. She related how he had 
once saved her life and Madam Silva consented with 
the above results. 


46 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


CHAPTER IV. 

It was a gloomy day when Basil Floyd set foot into 
San Francisco. The very heavens seemed to weep 
over his advent. Little did he dream as he looked 
upon the hilly city from the bay, half concealed by a 
film of fog, the evil fate that awaited him. Un- 
ostentatious, unannounced was his arrival one day 
in September. How he happened to select an up- 
town family hotel instead of a down town caravan- 
sary it would be impossible to explain except on the 
theory that the hand of destiny was leading him 
onward. 

Picture to yourself a tall, erect, broad shouldered 
man with handsome prominent features, an aquiline 
nose, brown eyes, black, well trained mustache that 
barely concealed his upper lip, and you have Basil 
Floyd, but there was a shadow on his handsome face, 
a deep, dark frown seemed to hover upon his visage, 
as if some terrible sorrow had stricken him. 

When the head waiter piloted him to a chair in 
the dining-room many eyes were turned upon the 
stranger. The inquiring glances from ladies that 
met his eyes were not ignored. He often returned 
them and encouraged them by a smile, or a pleasant 
look, in truth a flirtation was exactly to his taste. 

He had nearly finished his first dejeuner at the 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


47 


hotel when Octa Palass entered and took a seat 
directly opposite him. Mr. Floyd began to feast his 
eyes on the glamour of her beauty and began to 
manifest a deep interest in the flirtation which pres- 
ently ensued. She could not be blind to the singular 
handsome man, and she seemed plainly aware of his 
presence, and returned his transitory looks, that 
seemed so enjoyable with rare art, perhaps though 
only in a spirit of fun. There was about him a cer- 
tain dash and self-assertion that brought out his 
prominent individuality, a trait so much admired by 
the fair sex. More furious and interesting and ab- 
sorbing grew that fascinating flirtation day by day, 
and Basil Floyd never lost an opportunity to bring 
the flirtation to a successful issue, but the duties of 
chaperons are well defined, and this ardent admirer 
was handicapped in consequence. Patience with 
him amounted to a virtue, and he abided his time. 
He had prepared a hundred little speeches and plati- 
tudes with which to begin the conflict. One day as 
she left the dining-room she directed a significant 
glance at him, a glance of encouragement, at least so 
he conjectured, a glance that might mean much or 
naught. In response, he bowed and smiled success* 
fully, for it seemed to elicit a feeble recognition that 
yet left the matter shrouded in uncertainty. 

“ At last the ice is broken,” he said to himself. 

Basil looked forward to the next meal time with 
delight. It so happened that her father and mother 


48 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


finished their repast and deserted the table, leaving 
her still absorbed in the menu ; yet while she still 
lingered and pondered to her appetite, Basil took 
in the situation at a glance and boldly left his table 
for a self-appointed interview with the object of his 
admiration. She appeared unconscious of his ap- 
proach until he took a seat alongside of her, when 
she arched her neck and directed a withering look at 
him, which he adroitly ignored. 

“Your pardon a thousand times, but this seemed 
the much sought for and perhaps the only oppor- 
tunity I would ever have to make your acquaint- 
ance.” 

“What do you mean, sir? Such conduct is un- 
becoming here. Your looks bore the stamp of a 
gentleman. I am sorry to find you otherwise,” she 
said, half rising from her chair and casting a fiery 
look at him. 

“ One moment. Let me explain my actions, then 
you can condemn me if you wish.” 

“ Then speak.” 

“I thought our flirtation would justify me. If 
you desire I shall not persist. We can be strangers 
again, the same as before this meeting.” 

“I cannot overlook such a breach of etiquette, 
excuse me, and leave the table at once.” She was 
astonished at his conduct and failure to leave. 

“ I do not like to make a failure of a bad under- 
taking,” he said, complacently. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


49 


44 I will overlook your weakness, for aside of that 
you appear like a desirable acquaintance.” 

There was a painful pause. Octa took a hasty 
survey around the dining-room, now almost deserted 
Basil’s eyes scanned the immaculate tablecloth, look 
ing uncomfortable and penitent, as if he half rev 
gretted his impetuosity. 

“ I am glad your decision was favorable,” he said, 
fixing his eyes upon her. 

44 But it took you sometime to make up your mind. 
You have wasted a number of days. If you were 
obliged to resort to such desperate measures, why de- 
lay in enforcing your intentions ? ” 

44 I was afraid I would fail and then you might be 
lost to me forever.” 

44 It was really fortunate you have made up your 
mind to make a decisive move, or as the French 
would say a coup-de-main , for to-morrow we leave 
the hotel.” 

44 1 thank my stars. I should never have forgiven 
myself, if I had found you gone.” 

“Perhaps fate would have thrown us together 
again in some other locality,” she replied. 

Basil was highly gratified and lost no time in lay- 
ing siege to the heart of Miss Palass. There were 
flowers, but little poetry, few promises, but a display 
of letters of credit and certified checks, and senti- 
ment was replaced by costly presents and a good 
supply of bonbons, and what contributed vastly to 
4 


50 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


promote a mutual interest in each other was the un- 
folding of the many charms that each possessed. 
She managed things adroitly, for it was nearly a 
month before Jules became aware that a flirtation 
was in progress, and a formidable rival was to 
measure swords with him. 

“ Jules, we must postpone the wedding day,” she 
said, abstractedly, one evening. 

“Why?” asked Jules, with surprise. 

“ Because of the impossibility to get ready in the 
short time that intervenes.” 

“Now that is not the reason, if you will allow me 
to interpose a contradiction. You have a desperate 
flirtation on hand.” 

“Well, you persist in discussing a ridiculous 
subject, you shall receive a ridiculous answer. I 
have.” 

“ I give you fair warning, that is more consider- 
ation than I should accord you, if you continue to 
receive marked attentions from that adventurer all is 
ended between us,” said Jules, his hands grasping 
the arm of the chair he was seated on. 

“ I shall continue to cultivate friends,” she an- 
swered, with flashing eyes. 

“ His friendship has a deeper meaning, a meaning 
that forces me to bring this matter to a final issue. 
You can choose between Jules Charter, the gentle- 
man, and Basil Floyd, the mountebank,, Which 
will you have ? ” 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


51 


“ I prefer Basil Floyd twice, thrice. Of the two, 
it would be no choice, you would not figure in it. 
You wanted the matter decided, now I have done 
so,” she said, turning her eyes from Jules with 
hauteur, as if to dismiss him. 

“ Your decision is final ? ” he asked, in a regretful 
tone of voice, sorry now that he had precipitated 
matters. 

“ Final, Jules. I am sorry, but I think it is better 
this way. I love him without an incentive, I love 
you for what you have been to me.” 

“ I might have known better. If you had told me 
that before, my anger would not have been 
aroused.” 

“ There was no occasion to make such a confes- 
sion, and perhaps a little more time, or the interven- 
tion of circumstances would have placed him out of 
my reach, or cured my love fever.” 

The conversation turned into different channels 
and it was a welcome relief, that was appreciated by 
both. Jules talked of his house, the change in his 
plans that would now be necessary, the possibility of 
taking up his residence in a different part of the 
world. She listened attentively and offered sugges- 
tions that simply helped to widen the breach be- 
tween them. She noticed it created offense, and she 
must counteract it. 

“ I will be your lifelong friend,” she said, in a 
mollifying voice, and smiling so sweetly that Jules 


62 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


felt foolish for thinking he had been in the throes of 
rage a minute before. 

“ You also will have a steadfast friend in me,” said 
Jules, wiping the perspiration from his brow. 

And so they parted almost as good friends as 
before the quarrel, if such it might be called. J ules’ 
residence was not yet finished, but work was sud- 
denly stopped upon it and the people in the vicinity 
surmised correctly that the engagement had been 
broken. 

It was not long before the betrothal of Basil 
Floyd and Octa Palass was blazoned, and prepara- 
tions were made for the wedding. The trousseau 
had already been ordered, and it would serve as 
well for one occasion as the other, there being only 
a change in the bridegroom, argued Mrs. Palass, and 
her argument won the day. 

Rodney Floyd, the father of Basil Floyd, was so* 
journing in southern California, and he arrived in 
San Francisco two weeks before the wedding. 
Naturally he became a guest of the Palass’. 

Hugh Palass and Rodney Floyd found in each 
other congenial company and became bosom friends. 
Behind them lay their past, which in both instances 
were honorable careers ; before them a brief and un- 
certain future. A successful venture was recounted 
with startling detail, a disastrous misfortuue parsi- 
moniously outlined. Possessed of reminiscent moods 
they devoted nearly the entire day before the wed- 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATE. 


53 


ding to a review of their past. They talked about 
their gratifying successes, their dismal failures, their 
lofty expectations, their bitter disappointments. 
After all how nearly akin were their careers. They 
looked with pride upon an epoch of success and still 
worried over periods of reverses. True the circum- 
stances varied a little, the incidents were dissimilar, i 
but there was a sameness about them that almost 
made their lives identical, and with a few corrections 
the individual history of the one would have fitted 
that of the other. 

In appearance Mr. Palass was aging rapidly, as his 
white hair abundantly testified, yet his vitality 
seemed to have undergone but little change. 

His wealth was established, his daughter about to 
be married to an estimable young man with excellent 
prospects, and it looked as if the most stirring in- 
cidents of his life had passed. 

“Would you lead a different life, if you had to 
begin anew again ? ” asked Mr. Palass. 

“ No, I think not,” said Mr. Floyd, with an effort. 

The next day the principal topic for discussion 
was the news which reached them of the destruction 
accomplished by a violent storm along the Pacific 
coast in which three coastwise vessels and one deep 
sea-going ship had perished. 

“ What terrible sufferings that shipwrecked crew 
must have passed through outside of the Heads,” 
said Mr. Floyd. 


54 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“ Simply awful,” replied Mr. Palass. “ Whenever 
the Pacific brews a storm you may be sure there will 
be shipwrecks and marine disasters. A dozen lives 
were lost yesterday, and terrible sufferings endured 
by the survivors. The horrors of shipwrecks, the 
feelings of solitude and utter helplessness can never 
be realized by those who have never witnessed a ma- 
rine disaster. I was an active participant in one. It 
was on the Great Lakes. I have not yet finished 
congratulating myself on my narrow escape. That 
wreck has prevented me from venturing on the water 
ever since. But that was before I had established 
my residence in California. An era of prosperity 
had dawned upon me and I resolved to visit the 
scenes of my boyhood in Connecticut, scenes around 
which my fancy had woven a network of charms. My 
wife and three-year old son were chosen as trav- 
eling companions. Together we boarded a lake 
steamer at Detroit bound for Buffalo from which 
point our journey was to be accomplished by rail. 
A calm and perfect day in the fall of the year 
added additional charms to the attractions and diver- 
sions of a lake voyage. Scarcely as much as a rip- 
ple disturbed the mirror-like surface of the lake, as 
the steamer plowed through its hazy waters, leaving 
a white foamy trail behind in its wake. Suddenly 1 
and without any warning a white squall struck our ' 
steamer, sending a tremor through it from stem to 
stern. Then came a violent gale which was trans- 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


55 


formed into a tempest. The steamer heaved and 
rocked and quaked, swayed to one side and then the 
other in that boiling, eddying, lashing sea, in that 
mutiny of the elements. All on board, from the 
captain down to the most ignorant deck hand, began 
to realize that no craft, however stanch, could long 
withstand the fury of such a hurricane. 

“ The mad and distorted elements were engaged 
in a mortal combat with the steamer. All knew that 
escape from the jaws of death was only possible 
through the intervention of a miracle. The steamer 
was being hastily broken, irregularly splintered and 
roughly ground into useless fragments by the inces- 
sant fury and force of the raging and relentless 
storm. The flag pole and ornamental parts of the 
steamer exposed to the wind were wrenched off like 
mere paper and tossed into the water. The loss of 
the rudder was a calamitous mishap, and with it the 
last vestige of hope faded away. Unmanageable 
and unguided it would now take only minutes in- 
stead of hours for the steamer to drift rapidly toward 
shore, to be dashed to pieces and strewn in sections 
along the shore. In the life preservers which were 
brought into use, the passengers saw a faint ray of 
hope. Amid the screams of piercing winds and roars 
of waters, the blurred sound of orders to man the life- 
boats could be heard. The first boat that set out on 
its perilous voyage was soon swamped by the tremen- 
dous waves running and rolling over each other like 


56 


THE FLlBT TO DEATH 


water down a cataract, and we saw onr fellow pas- 
sengers of a few minutes before floating around for 
a moment and then disappear right before our eyes; 
but we were helpless. To watch the struggles of the 
helpless beings battling for their lives in the surging 
waters would melt the stoutest hearts. Their death 
struggle had come, ours must follow. The oppress- 
ive uncertainty still further discouraged our dis- 
heartened band. Some offered fervent but inco- 
herent prayers, others moaned piteously and wrung 
their hands. We saw what was in store for those 
who still clung to the steamer, which was now 
slowly giving away under our feet, lurching, reeling 
and sinking deeper every moment into that mael- 
strom. All of the occupants of the first boat perished, 
including four members of the steamer’s crew. To 
remain on the steamer meant certain death. Two 
more lifeboats were manned and passengers trans- 
ferred into them from the helpless steamer. The 
last man had scarcely deserted the steamer when it 
struck on some rocks, and the shrieks of creaking 
timbers and the sibilant sound of escaping steam 
could be heard above the noise of the waves and the 
tempest. Myself, wife and son were in the last boat 
to leave the steamer. The boat that preceded us 
was headed for the shore, but it floundered about in 
a helpless condition. Often times it disappeared 
entirely from our view on account of the waves run- 
ning mountains high, and we thought several times 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


57 


the boat had been lost. After a desperate struggle 
they made the shore and unloaded their cargo of human 
freight without the loss of a man. Our boat did not 
fare so well, for its passengers were unloaded uncere- 
moniously before it reached the shore, that was so 
near and yet so far. We were within fifty yards of 
the welcome land, when an extraordinary large wave 
capsized our boat. The storm, after the sinking of 
the steamer, abated a little, as if to gather renewed 
force. The men on shore seeing our boat disappear, 
hurried to our rescue, but myself and wife were the 
only passengers saved. My boy must have perished, 
for we never saw him again, and we are still lamenting 
his untimely death. By the time our boat capsized 
the steamer was almost broken up, so quick was the 
destruction, although we must have drifted about for 
some time before our boat was swamped. Some 
planking and wreckage was floating about, and we 
seized a plank and managed to keep afloat until 
rescued. I shall never forget that wreck. Thirty- 
five, as nearly as I can recollect, found a watery 
grave. Word was sent to a small settlement, and 
nondescript teams and wagons dispatched to take us 
to the nearest railway station. All of us were thor- 
oughly drenched, and looked as if we had been in the 
water for long, dreary days. We were the most for- 
lorn-looking crowd that was ever collected after a 
shipwreck.” 

Mr. Palass spoke with much feeling as his mind 


58 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


recalled the stirring incidents. He wiped a few 
tears from his eyes in memory of his lost son, and 
settled back into the depths of his favorite chair 
thoroughly exhausted. 

“How long since that wreck occurred?” asked 
Mr. Floyd, who had listened attentively to the nar- 
rative. 

“ Twenty-six years.” 

“ And whereabouts did the steamer go down ? ” 

“ About forty miles below Erie, as near as I now 
recollect.” 

“ And the time of the day ? ” 

“ About five o’clock in the afternoon.” 

“ I remember it distinctly. The news that there 
had been a marine disaster reached Erie about ten 
o’clock in the evening and created considerable ex- 
citement. I think the ‘ Lakeport ’ was the name of 
the steamer.” 

“ The identical one. How do you happen to re- 
member it so well? Twenty-six years is a long 
stretch of time.” 

“ Indeed it is, but I will explain. Out of curiosity 
a number of citizens of our town proceeded to the 
wreck the next morning. The only marks that there 
had been an appalling disaster was some wreckage 
strewn along the shore. We were walking along the 
beach, vividly picturing before our eyes the ship- 
wreck with its attendent horrors, and keeping a sharp 
watch for any bodies that might have been washed 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


59 


ashore. We came to some gray and time-eaten rocks 
and there I saw a boy sitting down. The little fel- 
low was hatless, literally covered with dirt, and the 
expression on his face was an index to his abject 
misery. I approached him and spoke to him. He 
looked weary, sad and desolate, and stared at me 
with his frank eyes, but no amount of coaxing 
seemed to break him into speech. After awhile I 
managed to engage him in conversation, but he could 
give no account of himself. He could not even give 
his name. It was apparent that the fright caused by 
the terrible experience during the previous night had 
wiped out all his recollections of the past from his 
juvenile mind. I soon satisfied myself that he was 
one of the passengers on the ill-fated steamer. 
Doubtless he had been rescued or cast ashore and 
his parents, or companions, had been drowned, and 
when the survivors went away during the night he 
had been forgotten and left behind owing to the 
darkness and excitement. Of course we must take 
charge of the boy until his identity was established 
and he could be returned to his parents. It was 
such a sad affair that it at once appealed to me, and 
the boy seemed so deserted that some one must be- 
friend him, and I took him home with the intention 
of adopting him if the attempt to find his parents or 
relatives proved futile. Every crumb of news about 
the wreck was carefully preserved, so were the 
clothes he wore when found, in the hope that they 


60 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


might lead to his identity, but nothing that would 
even furnish as much as a clue developed, and I af- 
terwards adopted him. You have seen him often 
and know him welL’ , 

“ What, Arthur Floyd?” 

“ Yes, the man who is about to contract marriage 
with your daughter.” 

“Were there any marks on his clothes ?” asked 
Mr. Palass, eagerly. 

“ Nothing except the letter ‘ P ’ was embroidered 
on a handkerchief which was tied around his neck.” 

“ My God, that was my son. I remember the 
handkerchief. He was the only child on board the 
steamer and he is about to marry his own sister.” 

“ It is most fortunate that the denouement was 
made before the wedding, ” said Mr. Floyd. 

Mr. Palass, who had suddenly changed from a 
gladsome man to the picture of misery and solem- 
nity, arose and slowly paced the floor, muttering some 
incoherent monologue which was often drowned in 
the susurration of a sigh. Folding his hands in front 
of him, he said, gravely and feelingly : 

“We must acquaint the two of the relationship 
that we have abundant reasons to believe exists be- 
tween them.” 

“The preponderance of circumstances seems to 
establish that fact beyond a doubt, though we have 
no direct evidence,” replied Mr. Floyd, thrusting his 
hands calmly into his waistcoat. 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


61 


“ The sooner they are advised the better.” 

During this time Octa and Basil were enjoying a 
drive through the park, rolling along beautiful bou- 
levards, bowling greens and fragrant grass plots, 
fringed by flowers, palm trees and exotic plants, 
happy in the blissful contemplation that they loved 
each other, and unconscious of the clouds that were 
gathering on the horizon of their happiness, ignorant 
of the eclipse soon to be cast upon their sphere. 

There was much confusion and discomposure fol- 
lowed by a summoning of servants. Mrs. Palass 
drifted into the library, unaware as yet of the discov- 
ery that had been made through the merest accident. 
She stalked to the centre of the room with stately 
tread, about to insist upon a change in some of the 
arrangements, with the arguments, that were to win 
her success, well chosen and arranged, but her liege 
lord waved his hand solemnly, but majestically, as if 
to prepare her for a disappointment. His remark 
that all arrangements would have to be cancelled 
filled her with consternation. She stood aghast, 
scrutinizing the lineaments of his face, when the sin- 
gular circumstances were related to her as if unable 
to comprehend their full significance. 

“ It seems impossible of belief. Why must such 
awkward things happen to us. Everything must be 
countermanded and rearranged, entailing as much 
trouble as was necessary in making the arrange- 
ments originally, all for naught. All had been ar- 


62 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


ranged to a nicety, after days of worry and sleepless 
nights, and I was really glad we had only one daugh- 
ter. It seems it must be Jules Charter after all. 
When he hears of it he will be wild with joy and 
dance for sheer glee, but there is relief in the con- 
templation that overjoy has been fatal to people and 
who knows that J ules may fall a victim to it. It 
will be a terrible shock to Octa. What strange feel- 
ings will seize her. I would not care to take her 
place.” 

For nearly half an hour while they were waiting 
for the return of Octa and Basil the trio maintained 
a sphinx-like silence, which was formally broken by 
Mrs. Palass, when she essayed to discuss some new 
phase of the matter. 

When the lovers returned they exchanged signal 
glances, as if to interpret the gloom and prepare 
themselves for some sad news, for written on the 
faces of their parents were terrible forebodings. 
It was cruel to separate them, break the charm that 
had drawn them together. When told of the rela- 
tionship, Octa brushed a few tears away from her 
cheeks and exclaimed : 

“It is too terrible for contemplation. What a 
visitation. I fear I shall lose my mind. Dear papa 
are you quite sure it is not a mistake,” she asked, 
imploringly. 

“ I will relate the circumstances and you can sit 
in judgment yourself.” 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


63 


After listening stoically to all the circumstances, 
she exclaimed with bitterness, “ I am convinced, alas 
the day ! ” Her eyes rolled around the room, the 
flush on her cheeks had quickly faded. She lost 
her self-possession and began to sob plaintively, and 
bitter tears bathed her lachrymose eyes, and she be- 
came “like Niobe, all tears.” 

“My child, you should not weep. Remember you 
have found a brother,” said her mother. 

Basil was also deeply affected. He embraced his 
new found father tenderly, and the tears came un- 
bidden to his eyes. 

Now ensued much confusion. Messages were sent 
hither and thither, orders cancelled and explanations 
prepared. During the family consultation which 
followed, it was decided that Basil should abjure the 
name of Floyd and return to the use of his own 
name. 

The first outburst of grief were followed by joy 
I in finding his father, and then Basil became strangely 
afflicted by a strata of melancholy. His condition 
grew worse each day, and it was deemed advisable to 
summon a doctor. The physician, with taps and 
raps, and tiny surgical instruments, diagnosed his 
case, shook his head gravely, and informed the family 
that his patient must have an immediate diversion, a 
change of scene, an extensive tour might save him. 
To this end preparations were made and his journey 
was to begin the next day. His tickets had been 


64 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


purchased, his sleeping car accommodations reserved, 
and even the time to speak words of farewell to his 
father, mother and sister had arrived, when he sud- 
denly succumbed to a mental malady. Strange dis- 
cordant noises were splitting his ears, followed by a 
crashing, caving sensation, accompanied by extreme 
dizziness and intense suffering. Strange visions 
were springing up before him, objects duplicated. 
Lippitude set in and his hearing grew indistinct and 
uncertain, and he tottered in his walk, like a feeble 
old man. Like a glass dome collapsing, with the 
sharp noises of breaking, snapping glass, crashing to 
the ground, such was the sensation that accompanied 
his mental prostration. The vigorous looking man 
of a few hours before, with the bloom and strength of 
youth stamped upon his face, was now reduced to a 
mental wreck, and his physical collapse would soon 
follow. His mind, pungent, active, brimming over 
with intelligence but a short time before, was now 
incapable of comprehending the most ordinary mat- 
ters. Worry and trouble could now make no im- 
pression upon him. The lustre and sparkle of his 
eyes had been replaced by a dull, ghastly stare. 
Within a few days the healthy glow on his cheeks 
that had escaped the devastation, was turning into a 
leaden and repulsive hue. It was decided to remove 
him to a private asylum „ It was an aftermath of 
the marine disaster, which had left his mind in a 
weakened condition and paved the way for his mis- 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


65 


fortune. This had been the first severe strain to 
which it had been subjected, and it gave away under 
the pressure. 

“ The saddest incident I have ever witnessed in 
my life,” said Mr. Floyd. “Two days ago Basil was 
the happiest man in the world. Now look at him, a 
miserable wreck, with nothing to live for. I would 
rather see him in his grave than in his present de- 
plorable condition.” 

Buried in oblivion with a malady for a companion, 
such was the fate of Basil Floyd Palass. 

“Let flames on your unlucky papers prey 
Your wars, your loves, your praises, be forgot, 

And make of all a universal blot.” 

Dryden, 


5 


66 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


CHAPTER Y. 

A shattered idol and broken friendship were the 
ruins left in love’s flight, in the passage of his Cara 
Sposa , but Jules looked upon the wreck with magna- 
nimity, the antics of a woman’s heart. He sought 
solace and balm in retirement, but it was not to be 
had at any price. The life of an anchorite was too 
dismal. In desperation he again became a frequenter 
of clubs, and the cordial greetings of old time 
friends rang in his ears once more. He was not the 
same careless superficial Jules the world had once 
known. For the most part he chose a dark gloomy 
corner, where with eyes riveted upon one spot he 
would sit and brood listlessly over the same old 
affair. He had lost confidence in everybody. An 
old time friend or confidant, sauntering up to him 
to renew a long standing friendship, would be re- 
garded in the light of an intruder and treated with 
cold remorseless contumely. Jules did not improve, 
but the malady, whatever it was, grew worse. 

Luckily the orgies of the flowing bowl did not ap- 
peal to him. Whatever his troubles, he had no incli- 
nation to drown them in riotous saturnalia. Solicit- 
ous friends became alarmed at his immeasurable sor- 
row. 

“ Lost to me forever. I wish my eyes had been 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


67 


denied the sight of the enchantress, of her heart- 
melting beauty. To dismiss her, blot her out of my 
existence, that is the problem. Into what ignoble 
thralldom, or fettering slavery I have fallen. It can- 
not be always this way. It will either kill me or I 
will by slow degrees get over it, but what a horrible 
death in that event it would be,” he would say, with 
resignation, to a few intimate friends. 

Weeks dragged along as slowly as a glacier. 
Jules’ avoirdupois was decreasing for the first time 
in his life. Evidently a love disappointment was an 
excellent cure for obesity, at least in his case. Then 
came the denouement and when Jules heard that 
Basil Floyd was nothing more than her brother, he 
exclaimed : 

“ There is yet hope for me.” 

****** 

Already Jules was preparing for her absolution, 
an indulgence that did not come without a struggle. 
But he became a new man fast enough, and mani- 
fested an inclination to be reinstated in her affection. 
There were various movements and countermove- 
ments and friends of the couple removed many an 
obstacle to bring about a reconciliation. At last 
they were brought together. They had not seen 
each other for months. Both had changed in that 
brief time. She was more solemn, more grave and 
given to dreaming, which diminished her vivacity 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


and alarmed some of her friends. He looked older, 
and a few wrinkles could be seen forming along the 
side of his cheeks, they were very faint yet they could 
be discerned. His bald head had also acquired more 
shine and polish, until it resembled a concave 
mirror. 

During the entire evening Jules was in a semi- 
hysteric condition. At last he sprang up as if to 
take his departure, but took a seat close by her side. 
He passed his hand over his forehead as if to relieve 
the mental strain and executed for the third time 
manuevers of whipping the haze off his phica-nez, 

“ I could forgive you,” he said, rolling his eyes to- 
ward her. 

“Forgive me? Why I hope I have not been 
guilty of a misdeed ? ” 

“But you broke the engagement.” 

“Because you quarreled with me? ” 

Jules was non-plussed, forced a faint insipid smile 
to the surface, and asked feebly : 

“ Then you will forgive me ? ” 

“ I could not promise.” 

“ But it is my earnest wish.” 

“ Of course, that is a great deal,” replied Octa, 
laughingly. 

“Things haven’t gone right with me since the es- 
trangement. It isn’t much that I ask. Remember 
I saved your life once and perhaps you can save 
mine now.” 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


69 


“Yes, Mr. Charter, yon are forgiven. It is my 
nature to forgive.” 

“ You did not find it difficult to forgive me?” 

“ No, it was in truth a pleasure. I felt a pang of 
delight.” 

Jules was again transported into ecstasy. Once 
more he felt the sensation of happiness creep back 
to its accustomed nook, he could even smile without 
an effort. He asked to have the engagement re- 
newed. 

Within two days the din of hammers echoed 
through the partially completed residence, and 
twenty artisans balanced and bent over scaffoldings, 
crawled in and out of windows curtained by cob- 
webs, and converted the deserted house into a hive 
of activity until it resembled an ant hill. The 
world and neighbors gazed on and conjectured cor- 
rectly that a reconciliation had been effected, indeed 
that house became a sort of a thermometer that 
gauged the relationship between Jules and Octa. 


70 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


CHAPTER VI. 

The financial situation of Mr. Palass had been 
ameliorated, and the wildest dreams of wealth were 
fulfilled. Where once the financial storm was rag- 
ing, calmness reigned again. Like some placid stream 
Mr. Palass’ affairs were gliding along serenely and 
en passant , his creditors disappeared as if by magic, 
to a man — freed from the pestering creditors. 

The day, like some evil fate, at last came when 
Octa was to set foot into the sacred edifice within 
whose walls promises would be made, ties and vows 
recorded in the presence of God. Here was the 
place to deliver that which she did not possess, eter- 
nal love to the man who thought she must love him 
because of his intense love for her. There were 
banks of flowers, but they seemed like thorns ; the 
world was gilded with golden sunshine, but it 
seemed like darkness ; pleasant words of congratu- 
lation were idle palaver ; beautiful bridesmaids, 
witches ; and sacred orange blossoms, weeds to her ; 
all an empty show. A small cup would have con- 
tained her happiness. No thrill could pass through 
her frigid heart for it had been turned into marble. 
She still felt something would intervene, wrest her 
away from peril before she fell over the precipice. 
She knew not what, but the pageant was forming. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


71 


There were rich gowns and all the paraphernalia that 
descends to the heritage of a bride. Finally, at the 
appointed hour, it was announced that the carriage 
was in waiting to receive her. It was the last link 
in the chain that was being forged, the manacle that 
was to bind her to him. Alas, she was not ready. 
She begged for more time and sobbed in her hand- 
kerchief. She shuddered and a tremor passed over 
her. Oh ! for some one who would rescue her. She 
was already a few minutes late, at a time when min- 
utes assumed the proportions of hours. Still she 
busied herself about nugatory matters, doing the 
same things over and over, but accomplishing noth- 
ing. At last she announced herself ready, yet she 
expected a hidden hand would manifest itself and 
separate her from a lifelong misery. The church 
with conical spire and its pastoral aspect was a long dis- 
tance away, but it seemed but a step to her. Noth- 
ing seemed natural ; it was more like a dream than a 
stern reality ; more like a picture than living scenes. 
It was a simple but impressive wedding, and there 
was nothing to indicate that both parties to the con- 
tract were not happy, aye, extremely happy. 

****** * 

Espoused at last, and on their honeymoon. It 
seemed increditable to Jules, who was desperately 
serious, like all men who are in love, while she was 
distant and cold and prankish. She was constantly 


72 


THE. FLIRT TO DEATH, 


imposing on his good nature, that seemed to have ho 
limit. They traveled extensively to cities, water- 
ing-places, spas, making a grand tour of the country. 
It would have been difficult to conceive of a happier 
mortal than Jules, and he continued to dream of love, 
and he talked in his dreams, jubilant over his con- 
quest that had caused him so much anguish, and so 
many perplexing situations. 

“ Now, Jules, you know we are married. I thought 
I would remind you of it before you proposed again.” 

Jules, with lacerated feelings, relapsed into a brief 
silence, his face reflecting the abject misery that had 
drowned his fine sentiments. 

“ Is it a crime to love ? ” 

“ No, but it is a little tiresome at times.” 

“ I will fulfill all my promises.” 

“ What are they ? ” 

“ Your life shall be one round of happiness.” 

“ If you succeed in making me happy you will 
perform miracles.” 

“Why does happiness seem so difficult to attain?” 

“ I have often wondered if I shall be truly happy, 
taste the sweets of happiness that we read about ? ” 
she asked, doubtfully. 

“ All my life, my aims, my energy shall be devoted 
to the promotion of your happiness,” replied Jules, 
in a confidential tone of voice. 

“ There is but one thing that has thrown a charm 
over our union, and that is the incident leading up 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


73 


to our meeting. It was very romantic and as strange 
as fiction/’ said Octa. 

On their return their mansion had been altered, 
and was ready for occupancy. Here they settled 
down, the pride of the neighborhood, received their 
friends, and indeed their life was little different from 
the life into which other, but less fortunate, people 
had fallen. Marriage had produced upon her a curi- 
ous effect. It made her simply indifferent to every- 
thing. The sun might remain in the heavens all day 
long, it would scarce attract her attention. A cloudy 
day or a pleasant day, which would she have ? They 
were all the same to her. Her spirits no longer rose 
and fell like the needle of mercury in the thermom- 
eter, they were immobile. Her friends noticed it 
and asked for the cause of her self-sacrifice. 

“It would have ruined him, driven him mad,” she 
said, “ if I had refused him. The was no alternative. 
It was very unfortunate that we ever met, or at least 
became conscious of each other’s existence.” 

“ But your own misery ? ” suggested one of her 
friends. 

“ That amounts to nothing. If I can make some 
one else happy I will not have lived in vain. That 
is a great deal.” 

***** 

The banner pastime for Jules was rifle practice, and 
the hunt lured him on to shaggy mountain sides and 


74 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


happy hunting grounds. He had acquired superiority 
in marksmanship, and bullets sped to their destination 
with unerring accuracy when he sighted a rifle. 
Scarcely a shooting tournament took place without 
his presence, and he always took a prominent part in 
it, earning enough medals to decorate three or four 
men. A rifle in his hands was a mere plaything, and 
a hunting expedition possessed irresistible charms for 
him. The dawn of the hunting season found him 
busy inspecting mildewed leather hunting bags, oil- 
ing rifles and preparing the small arsenal that usu- 
ally accompanied him to the mountain sides. 

There had been more trouble about the shooting 
gallery adjunct. When they moved into the resi- 
dence, Jules had taken the precaution to lock it up, 
taking advantage of Octa’s absence to indulge in 
target practice, but in this he was soon discovered, 
and Octa raised a storm of objections about it. She 
termed it an abomination and commanded its re- 
moval, but Jules was steadfast in his purpose to 
retain it, and refused to comply with her request. 
This nearly precipitated open hostilities between 
man and wife, and she always referred to the place 
with stinging words of sarcasm. It was a long time 
before she ventured within. The place seemed to 
have incurred her intense hatred and displeasure. 
One day, however, she strolled into the gruesome 
place and picked up a rifle, fired and struck the 
target without even as much as an effort, much to 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


75 


her own astonishment. The remarkable performance 
was purely accidental. She at once became inter- 
ested, and before long was an ardent patron of the 
place. 

By dint of application she soon became proficient 
in the use of a rifle. In the meantime Jules was 
busy making preparations for his semiannual hunt- 
ing expedition. 

“ Can I accompany you,” she asked, while watch- 
ing him bent over a rifle. 

“ I am afraid not,” he replied, regarding her with a 
puzzled look. 

“ Why ? ” 

“ It is too rough a trip, and you could not endure 
the hardships.” 

“ But I am fond of roughing it, and recollect I am 
stronger than you imagine,” she said, assuming a 
military attitude and pointing to her shoulders. 

“ It is dangerous climbing over needle rocks and 
wading through the swift currents of icy streams.” 

“You call that dangerous? I don’t. Besides 
danger adds spice to an undertaking.” 

“Besides there is danger from wild animals. A 
bear might overtake you, while men could make their 
escape.” 

“ Overtake me ? Why I would shoot him ” 

When Jules promised her in an evasive manner 
he would decide the matter on the morrow, she still 
saw the glistening bauble of encouragement. In the 


76 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


meantime Jules held a consultation with the members 
of the hunting party. Two of them raised serious 
objections to any change in the personnel of the 
hunting party, and supplicated Jules to alter his 
plans, claiming they did not wish to be hampered by 
a lady, whose company, however charming, would 
mar the pleasures of the sport, as her presence would 
interfere with the wanton abandon that characterized 
a hunting party. Jules threatened to abandon the 
trip and so they soon withdrew their objections. A 
few of them, the more punctilious ones, invested in 
new hunting suits. 

Active preparations had been going on for a week, 
stocking hampers, and Jules’ luggage contained 
several bottles of geneva, his favorite beverage, and 
flagons of liqueur. The party included Octa, and 
all told, numbered five. Octa’s enthusiasm had not 
diminished. She was flushed with happy anticipa- 
tion, and a trifle nervous when they arrived at the 
place selected for their headquarters, the little rail- 
way station that nestled in the mountain horseshoe. 
But a short distance away were the mountain fast- 
nesses. They pushed their way through leafy 
glades, penetrated primeval forests that resembled a 
pavilion or a grand cathedral, and at last reached the 
haunts of the deer, the lair of the bear, the den of 
the mountain lion, the airie of the wild hawk, con- 
scious of the subtile air and the aroma of pine trees, 
and the fragrance of the wild flowers as spicy as 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH , 


77 


carnations. The grandeur of that solitude, the im- 
pressiveness of that soothing peace seemed to stay 
their progress. The funereal moaning of the tower- 
ing trees was like the sighs of some giant being. 
The distant whir of the pheasant’s drum echoed 
faintly along the mountain sides. Soon they entered 
the deep gloom of the forest with its vestibule of 
green foliage, its carpet of velvety moss. Here the 
band of homogeneous hunters were steeling their 
nerves for a thrilling encounter with a ferocious bear, 
and many a gaping rent in the rocks was watched 
with feverish solicitude. But Octa enjoyed the hunt 
immensely, and she was far from a novice or amateur, 
for she bagged three fat plump rusty looking 
pheasants on the first day. Jules also had been 
favored by good luck, for he brought down a buck 
deer. Each day the mountain sides revealed new 
vistas and wonders of scenery, each day they became 
more fascinated with the hunt. At last there was 
but one more day left. They had been in the 
mountains ten days, but they seemed only like so 
many hours. If only that day could have been 
spared, this narrative would never have found its 
way into the pages of chronicle, but we must keep 
pace with the story. It was the last day of the hunt, 
and the shrill notes from the hunter’s horn echoed in 
the dells at the dawn of day and the party started 
early. When they were well up the mountain side, 
Jules remarked: 


78 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


“ Octa and I are about to go up the gulch looking 
for a bear or two. Claude Morton will reconnaissance 
at the base of the mountain and Gene and George 
will explore the gulch to the left, but we will all 
assemble on the plateau by noon.” 

Following out his plans,* Jules with Octa as his 
consort, wandered up the ravine, separated from her 
only a few paces, looking for game of any kind, 
from a gray squirrel to a mountain lion. When they 
reached the terminus of the gulch they espied a 
desolate spot almost hidden by a wall of trees. 

“ I don’t suppose the eyes of man ever gazed on 
this spot. I think we must be the pioneer explorers 
of this gulch,” said Jules. 

They advanced a few yards, and to their amazement 
beheld the ruins of a chalet on the side of a sharp 
slope. A closer inspection clearly revealed the fact 
that it was simply well patched up, thereby giving it 
the tumbled-down appearance, but that in reality 
it showed signs of habitation. Octa suddenly raised 
her right arm and pointed in the direction of the hut 
through an opening in the copse exclaiming : 

“ Why look at that strange man.” 

“ I don’t see a soul,” returned Jules. “ Where is 
the man ? Your eyes must deceive you.” 

“ Why, there near the hut.” 

Just then the object of her curiosity began to 
move a few paces and Jules exclaimed : 

“ Oh, yes, now I see. Come, we must move on.” 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


79 


But Octa remained immovable like one transfixed. 
He turned half way round and said sharply : 

“ Come, come, pay no attention to him. He is 
one of the natives, a rough mountain boy, who may 
be a robber and dangerous.” 

Ah, had she but obeyed the admonition of her 
master in this one instance, how different would have 
been her life, how different her ending. Octa, in 
spite of Jules’ remonstrances, kept up an eye com- 
munication with the man, and before Jules knew it 
she had made a detour, under cover of the trees, and 
engaged him in conversation. Jules, a moment later, 
came upon the scene and admonished her. She had 
again given way to her foible, her insatiable thirst 
for conquest, but Jules was placable. 

“Why,” she said, “I wanted a drink.” 

“ I could have procured it for you as well. 

The mountain boy, for such he really was, being 
of youthful appearance, albeit tall and well de- 
veloped, presently returned with water as clear as 
crystal from a spring near by, and Octa quaffed the 
cool sparkling water, declaring it was the most deli- 
cious drink she had ever tasted. When she returned 
the vessel, she said: 

“ You are a strange looking man. Who are you ? ” 

“ I am a mountain boy,” he said, as if proud of his 
home. 

“But what’s your name ? ” 

“ I have none. I am all alone.” 


80 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


“ What is your age ?” 

“I do not know even that,” said the boy, looking 
abashed at his own ignorance. “You see no one 
ever told me.” 

“ Here is a dilemma. This fellow don’t know his 
age,” said Jules as he walked toward the hut. The 
young man did not seem to interest him. 

“Is that your father?” continued the boy, pointing 
in the direction of Jules. 

“ No,” said Octa, repressing a smile. “Do you live 
here?” 

“Yes, there is my home,” he said, pointing to the 
hut. “ Would you like to see my home? ” he asked, 
feasting his eyes upon her beauty. 

“ Oh, yes, I shall be very glad to see it,” she replied, 
as her mind drew a fanciful picture of a mountaineer’s 
home. 

By this time Jules had rejoined his wife, and the 
trio entered the hut. The hut was a primitive look- 
ing affair, but neat and orderly, of ample size, with 
a partition in the middle. 

“ It is not a palace, but a very plain hut,” said 
Jules, with a sneering laugh, that very much dis- 
pleased Octa. 

“ But how picturesque,” she said. 

“But I have a palace, the like of which you have 
never seen,” said the boy, as he beckoned them to 
follow him, while he opened a sort of door, and they 
entered a grand cave, lighted up with a supernatural 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


81 


light. There were stalactites innumerable, and 
strange ornaments, a beautiful spot, with its white 
frosted floor, as if coated by snow, and near the cen- 
tre of the cave chamber, a pretty natural fountain 
sent up a spray of silvery water that bewildered and 
amazed Octa and Jules. 

After he had shown his impromptu visitors all the 
interesting sights, they came out again through the 
hut where Octa espied a bear, that sent her to one 
side of the cabin in terror. 

“ He will not harm you,” said the boy, as he started 
to pet bruin. “ He is as docile as a dog to me.” 

“ Don’t you find it lonesome here ? ” 

“ Yes, sometimes.” 

“ Then, you shall come with us. You shall see 
what the world is like.” 

“ Where do you live ? ” 

“ In the city.” 

“ But I am afraid I would not like it.” 

“ There will be many things to interest you. Be- 
sides, if you do not like it, you can return to the 
mountains again.” 

There was a lengthy consultation between Octa 
and Jules. The latter opposed the rape of the moun- 
tain boy. He questioned the propriety and sapience 
of taking him away from his home, but she overruled 
him, ad instar. 

“ I will go along,” he said, as Octa motioned to 
him. “ I have only one regret, and that is my pet 
6 , 


82 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


bear. What will become of the animal? I cannot 
tell him I am going away, but I guess he will not 
starve.” 

“ The bear will not miss you as much as you will 
miss him. His home is in the mountains,” said 
Octa. 

By this time the other members of the company 
came upon the scene, and the entire party with game 
bags full of plump looking pheasants, now proceeded 
to the railway station. 

All went well until a train approached, when the 
mountain boy became frightened, and nearly made 
his escape, as the iron horse rushed by the station, 
for it was an express train that did not stop at the 
little mountain hamlet. 

The boy remained quiet for the most part of the 
trip, but seemed delighted with the new sensations 
he was experiencing, and the strange scenes that 
were constantly shifting before him. He seldom 
took his eyes away from the car window, which af- 
forded such a fine panorama of trees and houses fly- 
ing and dancing by. He was the source of much 
curiosity to the passengers and attracted a great deal 
of attention, this picture of health and rare type of 
physical development. A handsome face, dark brown 
complexion, golden brown eyes, that seemed to laugh, 
but a firm face. Late in the evening they arrived at 
the Charter mansion. When he entered the house 
he did not seem bewildered at the magnificence that 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH 


83 


surrounded him . Octa was delighted with the strange 
acquisition to their household. 

“We will adopt him and educate him,” she said, 
with an air of pride. The brush and towel removed 
the travel stains, and they were soon enroute to the 
dining-room, where he sat down and began to eat, 
disregarding the conventionalties of knife and fork ; 
but when he saw Jules and Octa use knife and fork 
he quickly followed the example set, though he was 
quite awkward in the use of them. After dinner he 
played with the dog, a beautiful sleek intelligent 
animal, and a strong attachment sprang up between 
the two. For two days Jules and Octa were kept 
busy answering innumerable questions and explain- 
ing conditions and things about city life. 

The boy was to be taught the arts of civilization 
by a mentor, in the person of Felix Mann, who was 
engaged, and he soon began to inculcate the elements 
of a rudimentary education upon the master, who 
was an apt pupil. The boy manifested great aptitude 
for study, and the bend of his mind was toward the 
student. When he became dissatisfied with his prog- 
ress, kindly words of encouragement from Octa 
seemed to have a wonderful effect upon him, and 
spurred him on to greater effort. When perplexities 
presented themselves he came to Octa, his monitor, 
for decision and light. 

“ Did you like your mountain home ? ” she asked 
one day. 


84 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“ Oh, yes, very much,” he replied, as he gazed out 
of the window and imagined himself in his hut. 

“ Better than your new home ? ” 

“ Yes, in some respects.” 

“ But you do not care to return ? ” 

“ Not now, but perhaps some day. I wish to see 
the world first. After I have seen it I may want to 
return to the mountains again. There I know hap- 
piness awaits me, happiness that I cannot find in any 
other place.” 

They often had chats about their relative stations 
in life. These became more delightful each day. 

Early one morning the Charter household was 
thrown into confusion by strange noises. Every one 
was aroused, and Jules and the butler went through 
the house, and in turn woke up the boy. He lis- 
tened a moment and then his face, heavy with sleep, 
broke into a smile, and joy lit up his face. 

“ Ah, it is the noise of my pet bear. How the 
animal discovered my locality is more than I can im- 
agine.” 

Sure enough, the next morning Jules espied the 
bear in a clump of bushes in the yard, his eyes peer- 
ing through the leaves like balls of fire. He did not 
wait to welcome the bear, but beat a hasty retreat 
into the house and summoned the boy with all pos- 
sible haste. It was a curious meeting that took 
place between the boy and the bear. The animal 
jumped up, uttering short grunts, grinning with evi- 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


85 


dent delight, and displaying a set of white grind- 
ers. 

A few days after he had been received into the 
household he heard Octa playing the piano forte. 
He had never heard a piano in his life. He listened 
with rapt attention and watched her movements 
with great curiosity. At last he approached the in- 
strument and kissed it. This incident conveyed to 
Octa the idea that he was fond of music, and she en- 
gaged a music teacher. She had formed a correct 
estimate of his genius, as the sequel will prove. The 
piano soon became his hobby. Ten hours a day were 
consumed in practice, and what exquisite music. 
Such love and devotion for the art had seldom been 
manifested. The music professor was astounded. 

“ It is phenomenal,” he said to Octa. “ If he 
keeps it up, inside of a year he will be able to teach 
me, and I have devoted thirteen years to the musical 
profession.” 

The piano became part of the boy’s life, and he 
gave abundant promise of becoming a great pianist. 
Great things were predicted for him. His other 
studies were not neglected. There, also, he made 
rapid strides in the acquisition of an education. 

“ He must be baptized,” said Octa one day, after 
it was fully known that he would remain with them. 
“We should give him some uncommon name.” 

“ Well, you suggest one,” said Jules, indifferently. 

“ Algernon.” 


86 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“ It is pretty, but too long. It would soon be con- 
tracted into the sobriquet of ‘ Al.’ ” 

“ Oh, I have it. It is pretty, very pretty. A gem 
of a name. Vivian.” 

“Vivian,” said Jules, repeating the name three or 
four times. “ I will acquiesce, if no better one oc- 
curs to me.” And so this mountain boy was named 
Vivian, according to the rites of the Episcopal church, 
and his age was estimated between fifteen to twenty. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


87 


CHAPTER VII. 

Three years had settled upon the heads of the 
actors in this drama, and these years had brought 
many changes. Mr. Palass, who had been singularly 
exempt from personal ailments, was stricken down 
with apoplexy while in the harness, directing his 
collossal affairs. He rallied, but only to become a 
suffering invalid, and death came to his rescue and 
mowed him down chant du cygne. A host of afflicted 
relatives, a regiment of sorrowful friends followed 
him to the silent, sealed necropolis, amid dirges and 
coronals and the rites of burial, where tear-stained 
faces looked upon his reposeful features for the last 
time. A noble man had passed away, to whom His- 
tory’s scroll remained silent, and whose onty endur- 
ing monument would be the epitaph that but feebly 
expressed his sterling virtues. 

A second bereavement visited the family two 
months afterwards. Mrs. Palass followed her life 
companion to the city of the dead — the stygian 
shore. An all-wise Providence had measured the 
span of the life of one with that of the other, so that 
the sand in the hour-glass of their lives ran down 
nearly at the same time. They had been inseparable 
in life, so also they must be united in death. 

Vivian had grown more handsome, and the rough 


88 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


mountaineer’s stamp on his face was replaced by a 
refined look. Octa had grown more stately and per- 
haps added a tithe to her entrancing beauty. J ules 
alone had not improved, though perhaps the least 
change was noticeable in him. 

The gifted fingers of the musical parvenu acquired 
more magic each day. Already from his finger tips 
flowed the soul-stirring music that transported one 
to strange regions, and filled one with powerful emo- 
tions. The gleams of genius flashed forth and daz- 
zled all who came under its blinding, powerful, mov- 
ing spell. Manifestly this child of the mountains 
was destined to realize the glittering prospects of a 
grand artist, and verify the oft-repeated predictions 
of becoming the wonder of pianists. The world had 
never contained such a promising' musical prodigy. 
He caressed the instrument, like a mother her babe. 
He communed with it, and it answered back under 
the touch of the master’s hands. But something 
was disturbing the placidity of Vivian, the hand- 
some, the idol of drawing-rooms, bringing sleepless 
nights to him and spreading an unhealthy pallor 
over his cheeks. In brief, he had been transported 
into a strange land, and a feeling that combined 
pleasure and melancholy had seized him. 

“ Another week has passed by and I have made 
no progress. I long for the opportunity to declare 
my love. I have been patiently watching for the 
time when I could breathe my love into her ears, 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


89 


but it seems never to arrive,” said Vivian, dismally, 
sighing to relieve his pent-up feelings. His was a 
deep, eternal love, a love, that if thwarted, ends in 
tragedy. Ah, but who was this creature that had 
entertd' into his existence ? And why did it bring 
pale cheeks, and melancholy, and jealousy ? Not 
because she did not reciprocate, for few could re- 
sist him. Ah, but she was already the wife of 
another. 

“ I believe you love nothing but music and that 
instrument,” said Octa. 

“ Ah, I wish it were true for my own peace of 
mind, but alas my affection is not all centred on 
that instrument.” 

“ So you possess another idol,” she said, with an 
inscrutable countenance. 

“Yes, you, Octa. Haven’t you observed that? 
Perhaps I should have declared my love for you long 
ago, but it seemed too sacred a subject to talk 
about.” 

“ Heavens, Vivian. What are you thinking 
about. You must refrain from such thoughts. 
Never mention this subject again. What would 
Jules say if he even suspicioned such a thing? ” 

“For weeks I have endeavored to suppress my 
love for you, but without avail. I idolize you. 
You have been all kindness to me. You have made 
me ambitious. But for you I would have returned 
to the mountain wilds long ago, and perhaps it 


90 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


would have been better for my own peace of mind. 
I would not be human if I did not possess a ten- 
der heart for you.” 

“ Remember some one else is the custodian of my 
affection.” 

“ How fortunate for that one. Ah, I wish I could 
become the recipient of your affection.” 

“ You are too young.” 

“ No one knows my age. I may be forty.” 

“ That would make you too old.” 

“I am exactly your age. That will make it 
right.” 

“ Why do you practice so incessantly ? ” 

“ So that I may achieve fame, and become worthy 
of your affection. Alas I am now nobody, obscure 
and unhappy.” 

Vivian sighed heavily. His eyes shone with a 
brilliant lustre as they surveyed Octa. 

“ I must prepare for the afternoon function, so 
au re voir.” 

“ Then I shall not see much of you to-day,” said 
Vivian, casting his eyes upon the floor. 

“ To-day,” said Octa, amused. “ You have been in 
my company all morning. Besides I shall place a 
little of the afternoon at your disposal. What shall 
I tell the ladies about you.” 

“Oh, anything.” 

Octa was gone, and he threw a few kisses at her as 
she disappeared. 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH, 


91 


Mrs. Romallard, a leading light in the local 
musical society, had on her calling list Mrs. Charter, 
and that afternoon she inflicted one of her visits 
upon Octa. Music furnished the leading theme for 
the conversation. 

“Mrs. Charter,” said Mrs. Romallard, at last, “is 
it not possible to induce Vivian to appear in public ? 
Why not engage Concert Hall and issue a limited 
number of invitations. It is my opinion that you 
have no right to hide this man’s genius any longer.” 

“I hope we have not been guilty of any such 
crime or injustice. Because a few musically in- 
clined people are anxious to hear him, would not 
justify us in launching him on a professional 
career.” 

“ Yes, why not?” 

At this moment, Vivian, unconscious of the two 
ladies’ presence in the drawing-room, passed through 
the hall, deeply absorbed in his own thoughts, and 
wildly swinging his long arms. 

“Ah, there he is now,” said Mrs. Romallard. 
“ How handsome he is. We must ask him.” 

“ Vivian, we wish to have a few words with you,” 
said Octa, beckoning him. 

“ A great many I hope, Mrs. Charter.” 

A moment later Vivian stood before Mrs. Charter, 
his tall, lithe figure standing out in bold relief against 
the white, soft drawing-room walls. 

“ The demands for your appearance in public have 


92 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


become so numerous, that we have decided to obtain 
your views on the subject.” 

“I will seize the first opportunity to show my 
ability. I am anxious to display my talent before a 
critical audience, instead of before a few people who 
assemble in the drawing-room, and consider them- 
selves in duty bound to applaud my performance.” 

“ Then your wish shall be gratified,” exclaimed 
Mrs. Romallard. “ I will consult with Monsieur 
Pauli, who will make all the arrangements, attend to 
the advertising. He has abundant experience in that 
line, having managed an opera house in Paris for 
years.” 

Pending the completion of the arrangements for 
his appearance, Vivian liberally increased the number 
of hours for practice. Mrs. Romallard did not have 
such an easy time, for Monsieur Pauli declined, with 
many a wave and dash of his diamond decked hand, 
and an occasional shrug of the shoulders. Driven to 
extremity, a local manager was called into requisi- 
tion, and though he did not have the prestige of a 
foreigner, he had to answer, and he at once began to 
advertise the promising pianist by a liberal distribu- 
tion of posters. One day Vivian was himself sur- 
prised to find his name and picture perched on 
tumbled-down buildings, while huge letters heralded 
his appearance, and as he read these announcements, 
a sense of his own greatness stole over him. 

Back to his room he flew and practiced still more 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


93 


incessantly. He regretted there was not more time 
to prepare for his appearance. 

The day on which so much was expected of him 
arrived too soon. He was ill at ease and rocking 
with nervousness. He did not touch the instrument 
all day, but looked at it admiringly several times. 
The day dragged along wearily. Late in the after- 
noon he walked past Concert Hall, a gloomy, dismal 
looking building, and he began to speculate what the 
evening had in store for him, success or failure, prom- 
inence or obscurity. He pictured to himself the 
critical moment, and realized the awful responsibility 
that rested upon him. The thought of a thousand 
eyes being turned upon him, criticizing his boots, his 
hair, his shoulder, added to his nervousness. 

“Did I say the eyes of a thousand auditors?” he 
exclaimed, laughingly to himself. “ I forget there 
may be less than three score in the entire building, 
counting myself,” he said, finishing his monologue. 

The light dinner over, and he began preparations 
for the tortures of the evening. There had been no 
intermission in his nervousness. 

“ My nerves are like a gale. I cannot think of the 
same thing two minutes.” 

“ That will all die away the moment you enter the 
stage,” said Octa, by way of encouragement, for she 
felt he needed encouragement. 

“ To-night will mark a turning point in my life.” 

He left his own elegant apartment and sauntered 


94 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


down the street with cane in hand, sometimes 
swinging it wildly and absent-mindedly to the immi- 
nent danger of pedestrians, and sometimes loosely 
dragging it along. A few friends recognized him and 
saluted him. From the richly furnished room into 
the bleak dressing room was indeed a change. The 
room looked unfriendly, even the walls seemed to 
frown down upon him and freeze his blood. He 
heard the first arrivals, a merry party judging from 
the noise. One of them whistled in mockery of his 
music, it seemed to him. The house was filling up 
rapidly, as the click of opera chairs plainly announced. 
He would at least be spared the humiliation of a 
small-sized audience, he thought. He listened to the 
hum of conversation, the ripple of laughter, until the 
time arrived for his appearance. The manager in a 
winsome voice aroused him from the lethargy into 
which he had fallen, and cautioned self-reliance and 
calmness. But he soon had another attack of nerv- 
ousness. 

“ I wish I had never seen a musical instrument,” 
he said to himself, as he made a desperate effort to 
compose himself. He could hear the curtain rise, 
and it sent a shudder through him. A cave -like 
silence settled itself over the house, and he found 
himself for the first time on a stage facing a critical 
audience. The ocean of faces bewildered him and 
he glanced around to find the piano, which stood in 
front of him. When he found the instrument, he re- 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


95 


covered his self-possession, and darted upon the 
empty piano stool with the grace of a professional 
pianist. 

One master stroke upon the clavier electrified the 
audience that now settled down to drink in the 
stream of delightful music, and when he stopped a 
storm of applause went up. A huge bouquet, car- 
ried by two men, was conveyed upon the stage, the 
contribution of admiring ladies. 

Nothing but praise and applause greeted him. 
The select and fashionable audience became enthu- 
siasm mad. The name of Vivian traveled from 
mouth to mouth. Flattering offers from enterprising 
managers were some of the sequels of his successful 
appearance. He was with difficulty induced to ac- 
cept one. Octa herself urged him to embrace the 
rare opportunity, and for a good reason. She too 
felt she could not resist Vivian’s onslaught, and his 
absence might at least delay if not avert an alienation 
l of her affection. At last he accepted, but he was 
not sanguine of success. 

“ It may end in dismal failure. I am not at all 
certain of success. My local reputation has not yet 
preceded my appearance in distant lands, the far east.” 

Octa and Vivian, a few days before his departure, 
employed themselves in making farewell calls and 
empty promises to each other. Vivian was still 
perturbed about his acceptance of the offer, as it 
would separate him from her. 


96 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“By the time you return you will be cured of 
your infatuation,” she told him. 

“ No, never,” he replied. 

Before his final departure, he again benignly 
thanked them for their interest in him. 

“Perhaps I may never return. No one can tell 
what may happen. I again thank you for elevating 
me from my humble station.” 

Both Octa and Jules resumed their canonical ex- 
istence, but took a deep interest in his career and it 
proved a successful tour, as many had predicted, and 
as newspaper clippings, which he enclosed with his 
letters, abundantly proved. All his letters, of which 
there were many, were addressed to Octa, and she 
never allowed Jules to read them, but she would 
peruse them aloud to him, omitting the most affec- 
tionate parts. It happened one day that Jules *came 
across one of Vivian’s letters. 

“I see Vivian is rather affectionate toward you, my 
dear. It seems to me he uses most too endearing 
expressions.” 

“ The dear fellow is just like my own child. Of 
course it is my fault, or rather ours, we have petted 
him too much. He looks upon me as his mother. 
You must consider he is an orphan, but he is cover- 
ing himself with glory, a marvelous and brilliant 
man.” 

And so the unsuspecting Jules thought no more 
of his wife’s approval of Vivian’s affectionate man- 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


97 


ner and strange actions, dismissed his suspicions and 
relaxed his weak vigilance. 

What ranked as an important event in the Charter 
family was the arrival of a healthy bantling, some 
months after Vivian’s departure, and Jules was 
doubly proud because the bairn was a robust boy. 
A pretty brat with large eyes and dimpled cheeks. 

“ It is a lucky acquisition,” said Jules, to one of 
his personal friends. “ The little fellow will keep 
us together, will strengthen the bond of affection be- 
tween us.” 

Vivian was greatly missed. There seemed to be 
a void in the family circle, and when at last they re- 
ceived word from him that the tour was drawing to 
a close, they were much delighted at the prospect of 
soon seeing him again. His room in the Charter 
mansion was placed in trim, beautified by a sprink- 
ling of flowers and floral decorations, where garlands 
and mottoes were symbols of cult. A welcome home 
party had been arranged to receive him, and pay 
homage to the genius of this musical prodigy. 

His eastern success had not detracted from his 
personal charms nor worn away his modesty. He 
announced his intention of resting one year from his 
labors before accepting any engagements. One or 
two theatrical managers sent opportuning agents, and 
one manager came to California personally. Vivian 
remained obdurate. 

“ Why,” said the manager, with an appealing smile, 

7 


98 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


“ you have created a furore, and under my manage- 
ment, you will tour the states this season, and next 
year you will be the sensation of Europe, and then 
back to the states again.” 

“ I reject your magnificent offer, nevertheless. I 
must expand my knowledge of music,” replied Viv- 
ian, contumeliously. 

And so the interview ended, on one side a discon- 
solate and disappointed manager, on the other a care- 
less genius. 

Vivian, unrestrained, flitted about the house at his 
own free will, one moment in his own apartment, 
the next in the drawing-room ; two minutes at the 
piano and then two in the garden, among the plants 
and flowers, happy as a school boy on a vacation. 

“ It seems so delightful to breathe the atmosphere 
that surrounds the spot one is permitted to call 
home,” he soliloquized, as he contemplated his en- 
vironments, as if renewing old friendship with a 
piece of furniture or a choice plant. 

Octa and Vivian spent much of their time in each 
other’s society, indulging in little outings, for he had 
fascinated her as no other man had ever done, while 
Jules filled the role of marionette. 

One day, about two months after Vivian’s return, 
Jules had taken his departure for the office after the 
customary farewell that Vivian so often envied. 
Octo and Vivian were all alone in that huge man- 
sion, as they had often been, with all day before 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 99 

them, with nothing to disturb their indoor life except 
an occasional caller. 

“ You saw many pretty ladies on your tour.” 

“None so fair as you. In all the land I traveled, 
on railway cars, in audiences, in drawing-rooms, I 
saw none to compare with you.” 

“I had supposed that one so absorbed in music as 
you, would be oblivious to them, or not even find 
time to learn the art of flattery ” 

“ They are always so much in evidence, one cannot 
ignore them, and what you term flattery is unknown 
to me. But what have you done with the love 
letters I sent you ? ” 

“I have preserved them. Why did you write 
them ? ” 

“I could not help myself. You would appear be- 
fore me during a concert, while I was at the instru- 
ment, and the audience would applaud my perform- 
ance whenever I thought of you. At first it alarmed 
me, but I concluded it was because I played better 
when I thought of you.” 

Vivian sighed, and seizing hold of her hand began 
to pour forth his affection, speaking with emotional 
accents of his undying devotion. But Octa turned 
a deaf ear to his pleadings. 

“ Listen,” he exclaimed, in a high key. 

“ I will listen, but you will accomplish nothing.” 

“Jules must not keep us separated any longer. 
You are not happy. But I can make you happy. 


100 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


Come what may, I shall never cease to love yon. 
Your voice, your manner, your beauty have fascinated 
me. One word from you I prize more than volumes 
from others. Come, we must flee.” 

“ Where to?” 

“ To the mountains. They will never look for us 
there. We will be secluded, concealed from the 
world and mankind.” 

“ But my husband, my child, my name.” 

“ I hope I am dearer than all those.” 

“ You do not understand. I cannot transfer my 
love to some one else at will. If I should still love 
you at the end of a year, then I will listen to you, 
perhaps.” 

“ Then you love me, just what that something told 
me, prompted me you did. Now is the time. Wait 
a year? Never. Not one day even. You shall be 
mine henceforth.” 

“ I must have time to study it over,” she gasped, 
pushing him aside. 

“I will give you five minutes; when I return you 
must give me your answer.” 

Vivian departed, stroking his raven hair with his 
hand until his head looked like a ball covered with 
mirrors. His footsteps died away. She was all 
alone. She reviewed her past, and weighed the 
future. She recalled . advice from her parents and 
friends, and studied over Vivian’s startling proposi- 
tion. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


101 


“ Ah,” she exclaimed, lifting up her head, as if a 
vision had appeared before her. “I am in this 
man’s power. He loves me, he is intelligent to a 
high degree. His society is an intellectual treat. If 
Jules were half as refined. But yet I cannot accept 
Vivian. It would be terrible. My name, that which 
has never been stained by the breath of scandal. 
No, it must not be. I would rather die. If I could 
only flee away from this man’s power.” 

Only the thickness of one room separated the two. 
Vivian was revolving the matter over and over 
again. He had scruples, but they were not strong 
enough. 

“ What will Jules think of me ? What will the 
world say? But I am in her power. She controls 
me. She is to blame, not I. The time is up. She 
expects me.” 

She could hear his footsteps. He was returning. 
She would make one more plea. When he entered 
the room he found her in tears. She thought tears 
might move him when words would be futile. 

“ Well I have returned for the answer,” he 
said, placing his hand under her chin to pry up her 
head. 

“ It is not ready. Do not think any more of the 
matter. Dismiss it,” she said, turning her head to one 
side to avoid his eyes that had often proven his most 
powerful argument. 

“ I must have your answer.” 


102 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


“ Then I will answer you now. I cannot go with 
you.” 

“ You will wreck me. You shall never see me 
again. This is my last day on earth.” 

“ One moment. Do not be rash.” 

“ Without you I have nothing to live for. By 
heavens you must go. There is no escape. Come, 
come. You secretly hate Jules. Then away from 
him. You must go ; you must say yes.” 

“ I will go. But my child I must take it with 
me.” 

“ No, no, the child must remain here. It is better 
off here.” 

“ Oh save me, some one save me. Why did I say 
yes?” 

“ Henceforth you are all mine,” said Vivian, 
dancing with glee. “We must hasten and flee to 
the mountain to-day, this very minute. It will be 
our pelladium.” 

“ No, no, not to-day. I must see my husband 
again. I must look into his eyes once more. I must 
take a mental farewell of him.” 

“ Impossible. Do not delay. He may be on his 
way home now. It must be now or never. So send 
the nurse with the child to some friend’s house, with 
instructions not to return until late, and when she is 
gone, we will pack our belongings and take the train, 
and say farewell to the world.” 

The nurse was instructed to call on a friend in a 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


103 


distant part of the city, and both proceeded hurriedly 
to pack trunks and valises. 

“ What time does the train depart ? ” asked Octa, 
despairingly. 

“ In one hour.” 

“ Pack two trunks in an hour ? Impossible.” 

“You cannot take along more than one.” 

“ I cannot store half my things into one and I can- 
not come back.” 

“ I will help you.” 

There was much confusion in the Charter mansion. 
But it was not until an express wagon rolled up and 
took two trunks away, that the neighbors began to 
crowd up to the windows. And their wonder was 
increased, when they saw Mrs. Charter gowned in a 
gray traveling suit, come out of the house followed 
by Vivian. They were off. She to exchange the 
luxury of drawing-rooms and downy couches for the 
accommodations of a rough mountain cabin. He to 
exchange the life of a genius, full of honor, the 
recipient of plaudits of the multitude, the easy life of 
the polished gentleman, the rage of the fair sex, for 
the mountain wilds. He had pandered to her foibles, 
had woven his panegyric net around her, and lari- 
ated her by his polish. 


104 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

It was the day before the patriotic Fourth of J uly , 
the day which is held in such high veneration in 
America. Jules was preeminently happy. He had 
already decided on an outing for his family, and he 
had included Vivian in his calculations. Jules 
entered the mansion at the usual hour and at the 
usual place. He encountered no one in the hallway, 
and he began to imagine that something was amiss. 
He went from one place to another, but the house 
seemed completely deserted. He furthermore found 
it in a state of great disorder, bureau drawers were 
gaping open, while papers and articles of wearing ap- 
parel were strewn on the carpets. He went first 
into Octa’s room, and there found a melancholy 
billet in Octa’s handwriting. Its fatal contents were 
as follows: 

“ When you find this note I will have entered on 
a long journey, in company with some one whom I 
sincerely love and I have been a victim to his power 
and influence. You have been a kind and good 
husband, better than I deserve, but I could not wrest 
myself away from this man’s power. Do not try and 
find me. Should you succeed it would only humili- 
ate me. I hope you will forgive me. Of all men I 
have ever known I find it the most difficult to dis- 
appoint you. Affectionately, 

“ Octa.” 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


105 


“ A note of cajolement,” he exclaimed, as he tore 
the slip of paper into a hundred shreds. “ Who has 
robbed me of my wife ? Who is this man she loves 
better than any one else?” 

Jules was not prepared for this terrible shock. 
His hands trembled, his legs quaked, his head grew 
dizzy. He put his hands to his forehead to steady 
himself. Tears nearly came to his eyes. She had 
abjured him at the price of pride, wealth and 
station. 

/ Jules’ troubles were beginning to multiply. That 
which he had been trying to avert had come to pass too 
soon. He had always been afraid her beauty would 
be the target for some men to try and win her from 
him. His idol was shattered and lay in fragments 
before him, but yet he loved the wreck. His heart was 
sad and heavy. What now were the fruits of his 
toil and moil to him, his home, this wealth, 
this mammon he had been struggling to acquire, 
embai'ras de richesse as valueless as dust to him 
now. It was some time before he recovered, and 
then he burst into a fit of rage. Again he asked of 
the walls the name of the man who had robbed him 
of his wife, his happiness. But no answer. Up to 
this time Vivian had been precluded from his 
thoughts. To even think of him as abetting, or aiding 
his wife and her paramour seemed diabolical. But 
yet Vivian was not about, though that was nothing 
strange, for he used to be away two or three days at a 


106 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


time, without even giving an account of himself, and 
they all supposed he had made a trip to the moun- 
tains. At last he flew to Vivian’s rooms, and he en- 
tered the apartments breathlessly. There was the 
same disorder, the floor littered with paper, neckties, 
clothes, boxes, evidences of a hasty departure and no 
sign of Vivian. At last it occurred to him that they 
had fled together. It seemed impossible, yet there 
was abundant evidence. Whither had they gone, 
where could he find them ? A further search re- 
vealed the fact that the nurse and child were also 
missing. The entire family had abstracted itself. 
He was thankful they had not taken the mansion — 
robbed him of his home. The nurse and child soon 
returned, much to Jules’ comfort. They would 
throw a little light on the mystery, he thought. In 
fact the child was a little salve for his wounded 
heart. She would return to see the child. No 
mother could leave her offspring in that manner. 
The nurse threw up her hands in horror, when she 
heard of the missing mother. 

“ Oh, she told me to take the baby to Hollingers, 
as the misses there was so fond of the baby. She 
told me I need be in no hurry to return, as she 
would be making a number of calls that afternoon, 
and would not be home until late in the evening. 
Who would have supposed she would leave here? 
Such a grand place and such a kind, good hus- 
band.” 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


107 


“But tell me, were her actions not suspicious. Did 
you notice anything strange about her behavior ? ” 

“ Nothing, whatever,” pleaded the nurse. “She 
acted the same as usual.” 

“As usual? ” 

“ She and Vivian were very friendly. You must 
have known that. I believe they must have gone to- 
gether. I never trusted that man.” 

“ Friendly, but not more so than usual ” 

“ They were nearly always together, in the garden, 
or in the drawing-room.” 

After dinner Jules managed to gather around him 
an air of calmness. “ I will not permit them to have 
their own way. I will have them tracked down. 
They shall not escape me. I will find their hiding 
place. They shall pay dearly for this. And this 
Vivian ! What gratitude. He has paid the debt he 
owes me for accomplishing his amelioration by steal- 
ing my wife.” 

This kind-hearted, benevolent man, suddenly 
changed and became suspicious of everybody and 
eve^thing. As a gust of passion swept over him he 
walked up and down the room, muttering curses, 
billingsgate, heaping vituperation upon the destroyer 
of his happiness, through his set, grinding teeth. 

“ Vivian, the poltroon ! ! ! the viper, peccant ! 
* * * * whelp, runnion. Perfidy. Fire and brim- 
stone ****** Sirrah ! ! ! ” 

Though robbed of his wife, friends came to offer 


108 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


sympathy and consolation, and lighten the burden of 
sorrow and scandal. Claude Morton, who had 
earned for himself the sobriquet of Woman Hater, 
though the steadfast friend of Jules, came to advise 
and chide him. 

“It serves you right. I told you you would 
regret it. Ah, you did not heed my warning. This 
is what you get.” 

“ It’s what I haven’t got that worries me,” re- 
plied J ules. 

“ I mentioned to you that the great difference in 
your ages would be a yawning chasm which would 
lead to constant disagreements, if not separation. 
Now see the position you are in. Think of the scan- 
dal, the disgrace. I would not turn a hand to get 
her back. If she does return send her out again. 
The same thing will happen again if she returns.” 

“ I will give her one week in which to return, 
nevertheless,” replied Jules. 

But that time was extended from week to week. 
In the meantime Jules breakfasted and dined in that 
huge dining-room solitary and alone, sometimes call- 
ing the chef into the room to break the unbearable 
solitude. Jules had in contemplation breaking up 
the domestic life and closing up the house, but some 
powerful influence seemed to restrain him. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


109 


CHAPTER IX. 

Octa and Vivian were safe in the mountain wilds, 
the scene of their first meeting, hunting and fishing, 
roving about and leading an ideal mountaineer’s life 
in this Arcadia, amid Nature’s wonders and pictur- 
esqueness. These were halycon days, summum bonum. 
She was far happier in the mountain than in her city 
palace, yet there was something disturbing her seren- 
ity, and that was the absent child. She had only a 
picture of the bantling, and that she carried in a 
locket fastened around her neck with a gold chain. 

“ Oh, my child, my own precious child, that beau- 
tiful boy, dearer than all the world to me, separated 
from me? It is impossible to live without him. I 
must have the child with me. If I do not obtain 
possession of him insanity will overtake me,” pleaded 
Octa, weeping in the corner of the hut. 

“ There is but one way to procure the child and 
that is by abduction, and I swear I will set about to 
accomplish it.” 

“ And leave me here alone in these mountain 
wilds ? No, no, I would accompany you.” 

“ That would lead to detection, arrest, and expose us 
to the wrath of Jules Charter, and our separation would 
inevitably result. I can make the trip in one day.” 

“ That is impossible, but I cannot remain here 
alone over night. It would be more than could be 


110 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


expected of me. I could summon enough fortitude 
to remain alone during the day, but at night, never. 
Besides, what would happen to me if you were ap- 
prehended and cast into prison. I would starve in 
the mountains.” 

“ Perhaps, after all, you could accompany me.” 

“ Yet that seems like taking too much risk.” 

Their attention was presently diverted into some 
other channel, and they pursued their rugged exist- 
ence cheerfully, save that she felt the absence of the 
child keenly. Vivian was profuse in his promises to 
procure the child for her. He busied himself with 
preparations, and early the next morning went about 
to fix up a concoction, which he calculated adminis- 
tering to her, and which would keep her in a coma- 
tose^condition until he could return from his kidnap- 
ping expedition. Long before she was awake he 
boiled leaves from a peculiar tree, and poured the 
liquid into the coffee that he was in the habit of 
bringing her every morning. 

“ Drink the coffee and then sleep as long as you de- 
sire. When you awake I will have a surprise for you.” 

“ Do not leave me alone,” she said, sleepily, at the 
same time reaching out her hand to hold him, but 
sleep shifted her into dreamland again, and she was 
powerless to intervene. He kissed her, and then 
darted down the mountain side, deeply absorbed in 
the work he had set out to perform. And it oc- 
curred to him that if success crowned his efforts to 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


Ill 


kidnap the child, its safety would by no means be 
insured. It would be extremely difficult and haz- 
ardous for him to have exclusive charge of the tiny 
baby on the journey back to the mountains. He 
had almost reached the little station, when he de- 
cided to return. Up the mountain side he labored, 
and when he reached the hut it was with great diffi- 
culty that he aroused her, luckily the concoction had 
not yet taken effect, as he discovered he had made a 
mistake and had given her an overdose. 

“ I have matured my plans for the abduction, but 
I find I need assistance. I have decided you shall 
accompany me. We will both disguise ourselves.” 

“ But we must not be seen together in public in 
the city even in disguise.” 

“ That can all be arranged.” 

So they made preparations to leave on the morrow, 
and early the next morning they set out, speculating 
on the success of the expedition. Disguised like 
rough frontier folks, they presented an odd appear- 
ance. They reached the little station half an hour 
before the arrival of the train, and the doughty sta- 
tion master never lost an opportunity to look at the 
couple and ponder over their oddity. At last the 
panting train drew up to the station with a noisy 
shriek, and they climbed on board. The train sped 
on and he became reminiscent. 

He remembered his first trip and he went care- 
fully over his career. He recalled how he practiced 


112 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


and accused himself for not devoting more time to 
practice. He recalled how he electrified his first au- 
dience, and how he followed up his success in eastern 
cities. Ah, if it had not been for her he would be 
playing in Europe, before crowned heads, perhaps 
the most famous pianist in all the world. Ah, but 
he preferred her to glory, to everything. 

The shades of night were falling fast when they 
reached the city, and as she shaded her eyes and 
gazed out of the windows and saw the lights shin- 
ing radiantly on hilltops and in the valleys of a 
great city, she longed for a brief period to return 
to that life which she had voluntarily left behind. 
Vivian after ensconcing her at one of the hotels, made 
his way to the Palace mansion. A light shone bril- 
liantly from a window upstairs. He took up a po- 
sition on the opposite side of the street. The big 
mansion seemed deserted, save for that one light. At 
last the light was extinguished and he saw the huge 
door swing open and a man walk down the steps, he 
heard the ferrule of the man’s heavy cane grinding 
on the pavement. It was Jules Charter. He 
emerged from his hiding place and followed the man, 
so closely that he could place his hands upon his 
shoulder. He had satisfied himself that it was the 
grief stricken Jules, and for a moment he felt like 
delivering to him the treasure he had stolen. But 
he soon became himself again, the fiend overpowered 
the finer feelings that at times predominated the 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


113 


man. With many a coup-d'oeil to the right and left, 
in front and behind, he retraced his steps to the 
house. He mounted the familiar front steps and 
inserted the slender key he still retained in his pos- 
session, and opened the door noiselessly. The hall 
girandole cast a dim light about the foot of the grand 
staircase, but everything wore a familiar appearance, 
the highly ornamented hat rack still adorned the 
hall, and there was apparently no change in that 
orderly mansion since the time he had the distinc- 
tion of being a dweller therein. He halted often and 
anon to listen, but all was quiet. He proceeded 
stealthily to the nursery, his shadow silhouetted 
against the wall. He thought he heard some one 
breathe and it chilled him. He went to the door 
and glued his ear to the keyhole. There was no 
noise. He had by this time fully determined on 
entering and kidnapping the child from the nursery. 
He tried the door, but it was securely locked and he 
possessed no key. He was baffled, and stole noise- 
lessly out of the house without encountering any 
one. Being fatigued, he proceeded to the hotel 
where Octa patiently awaited him, and she was in 
turn disappointed because his search and prowls for 
the child had been futile. 

Early the next morning he engaged a carriage, 
and accompanied by Octa drove in the vicinity of 
the Charter mansion. He deserted the carriage at 
the corner, and left instructions with the driver to 
§ 


114 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


be constantly on the alert and prepared to bear 
him rapidly away at a moment’s notice, as soon as he 
saw him approach. Vivian remained in the vicinity 
of the house for some time, and after a time saw J ules 
again leave the house, suspecting nothing, for he 
did not even look at the carriage across the road in 
which Octa was sitting and watching, nor did he 
look at Vivian. Jules disappeared around a corner, 
and Vivian waited until ten o’clock, when his pa- 
tience was rewarded by catching a glimpse of the 
nurse iu the yard. He watched her coming through 
the gate and saw her wheel the baby up the street. 
He distinctly recognized the nurse as he studied 
every movement made by her and beheld the awry 
face. He looked intently up and down the thorough- 
fare, but no one was in sight. The opportunity 
had arrived, and he stealthily followed the nurse, 
cut the strap with the knife which he carried in his 
belt, took the baby in his arms without uttering a 
sound. The nurse, however, made a determined re- 
sistance and seized hold of him, but he pushed her 
aside. She screamed at the top of her voice, but 
no rescue came, not even a window was opened in 
the neighborhood. Vivian dashed to the carriage 
standing at the corner, jumped in and was off be- 
fore the astonished nurse recovered from her fright. 

“ The darling treasure,” said Octa, reaching for 
the baby, who smiled as he looked up in his mother’s 
face. “ Thank you. Plow kind of you.” 

Vivian nodded approval, though he was scarcely 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


115 


conscious of Octa’s presence, so absorbed was he in 
making his escape. Away to the depot the carriage 
rolled, but not too swiftly for Vivian, who knew not 
a minute must be lost to reach the depot in time for 
the train. A minute wasted might cost him his free- 
dom. A few minutes more and the train would be 
on its way to the mountain home. Not a moment 
must be lost. The carriage at last came to a stop, 
and they were in front of the depot. The gong was 
sounding the last warning, the locomotive’s bell was 
tolling, and Vivian made a wild rush for the gate to 
hold it open until Octa should be able to reach it. 
The depot master growled, but the gate was held 
open until they were safely inside. They were not 
interrupted on their journey, except a few passengers 
eyed them suspiciously. Late in the evening they 
reached the little mountain hairnet. The little fel- 
low had behaved admirably on the way, never even 
as much as uttering a sound. When they alighted at 
the station, Vivian was afraid the alarm had spread, 
and they would be under surveillance, but no one 
seemed to be interested in them, and they remained 
in the town over night, and made arrangements for 
the subsistence of the child. The next morning they 
made their way up the mountain side. Octa was 
fatigued, but happy in the contemplation that her 
child had been restored to her. She could now guard 
over the little fellow, and count on his companion- 
ship when Vivian was away procurring game and 
fish for their tables. 


116 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH . 


CHAPTER X. 

The day on which the great crime was committed, 
the abduction, that hung more weights on to the 
heart strings of Jules, had opened majestically, as- 
suring Vivian that the child would be given an air- 
ing. The nurse had been busy all morning, prepar- 
ing the child for the wanton outing. She was proud 
of the child, and took an unusual interest in the boy. 
A new dress that robed him for the first time, created 
consternation in the child’s mind, and he rebelled 
against the stiff, suffocating material. He was fi- 
nally pacified, and placed in the carriage that presently 
rolled along the garden paths lined with shrubbery, 
and started slowly up the street, the tiny shadow of 
the boy creeping along the iron railing. Suddenly 
the demon-like figure of Vivian brushed past the 
nurse and seized the boy, like an eagle its helpless 
prey. The nurse started to give Vivian chase, but 
the fleet-footed child robber was giving a good ac- 
count of himself, and had covered a block by the 
time she had arrived at a decision. When she saw 
his fading form, with the white garment of the child 
fluttering above his shoulder, bounding around the 
corner, she gave up the idea of pursuit in despair. 

When she recovered somewhat from her dazed 
condition, she put the empty baby vehicle into the 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


117 


house and then started to give the alarm. First of 
all she thought of notifying Jules ; but whether it 
was on account of her German phlegmatic composi- 
tion, or the dispensation of natural stupidity, or both, 
she had remained ignorant of Jules’ down town ad- 
dress, though she had been in the employ of the 
Charter family approximately three years. Then at 
the expenditure of much time and energy, she ran- 
sacked the neighborhood for a police officer, and by 
noon time she had been successful, thanks to a false 
alarm of an attempted assassination that drew the 
police from their rendezvous, but she was still so ex- 
cited that it required the intelligence of two munici- 
pal peace guardians to unravel her story. 

It was late in the afternoon by the time the news 
had penetrated the cordon of police attaches and 
reached headquarters, and instructions were sent out 
to apprehend the kidnapper, actually on the same day 
the crime was committed. 

When Jules returned in the afternoon, the nurse 
met him in the doorway weeping, the picture of de- 
spair, the arrangement of her hair wrecked, her eyes 
red like the rising sun, her voice throttled by emotion. 

“ They have stolen little Arthur,” she said between 
her sobs. 

“What,” cried Jules, dropping his cane and open- 
ing his eyes until nothing but the whites was dis- 
played in them. 

“ Yes, he is gone. I had just started to give him 


118 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


the usual morning air, when a man snatched him 
from the carriage and ran off with him.” 

“Who was it? Tell me all. Now sit down and 
compose yourself,” but Jules was nearly as excited 
as the nurse. 

“ I don’t know. He was disguised.” 

Jules mopped the perspiration from his forehead 
while waiting for the nurse to collect her scattered 
thoughts ; in the meantime he filled up the gap by 
upbraiding her. 

u Why did you let them take him ? He was un- 
der your protection. Were you at the carriage when 
he was stolen ? He was all the world to me.” 

“ I was pushing the carriage, and Arthur looked so 
happy. I shall never forget that beautiful child. I 
was powerless, helpless. I was no match for the 
man, besides it was done so quickly there was no 
time to call for assistance, though I screamed lustily, 
and offered resistance. He stole up behind me and 
pounched upon the boy, and made rapidly away with 
him. I sprang at the man, but he pushed me aside 
and ran, and I saw him disappear around the corner 
of the street. It all happened in less time than I 
can tell it.” 

For nearly half an hour Jules listened patiently to 
her disconnected account, asking numerous questions, 
to satisfy himself that she was not implicated in the 
abduction, as an abettor, or for a money considera- 
tion. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


119 


“It is the work of Vivian. The arch fiend, 
though I had not supposed he was in this part of the 
country. Oh, will not some one deliver him into my 
power ? Will not some day see him falling into my 
hands ? ” 

Jules dismissed the nurse, and locked himself into 
his room to mourn for those who had been nearest 
and dearest to him. With the theft of the child, the 
last shred of hope that she would return was dissi- 
pated. He must forget her. She had remained 
away too long to make it possible for a reconciliation. 
Yet he would like to look upon her face once more, 
but he could not trust himself, his fearful temper, 
the injury that had been inflicted upon him, the 
wound in his pride, would be sufficient cause for him 
to avenge himself. His life was ruined, why should 
she not pay with her life ? A life for a life. After a 
time he recovered from his murderous inclinations. 

“ The loss of the child is the severest blow of all. 
I will spend thousands of dollars to recover little 
Arthur. I will search every nook and corner of the 
globe to find the boy.” 

The small family circle had been gradually, but 
surely reduced, until no one except Jules was left, 
so he peremptorily decided to close up the mansion. 
To his delight the apartments that sheltered him 
when he first lived in California were tenantless, and 
Jules again became wedded to them, and about all 
that now appealed to his fancy was the marine view, 


120 


TEE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


all else seemed a hollow mockery, an empty show, 
filled with deceit. 

“ History has repeated itself at least in my case. 
After five years of a checkered career I am back 
where I started, but with a great deal more expe- 
rience, a great deal more.” 

“ The scene of beauty and delight is changed : 

No roses bloom upon my fading cheek, 

No laughing graces wanton in my eyes ; 

But haggard Grief, lean-looking sallow Care, 

And pining Discontent, a rueful train 
Dwell on my brow, all hideous and forlorn.” 

Rowe. 

The promises of the detectives remained unre- 
deemed, but Jules had not given up hopes. Deep 
lines began to settle on his face, the footprints of 
bitter grief. His head was bowed down with sorrow. 
If the stamp of gloom on his brow was a fac simile 
of the gloom within him, his sorrow was indeed great. 
His walk was wavering, his steps uncertain. He 
must have a diversion. Anything to take his mind 
off the subject that was haunting him. So with a 
trusty companion, he proceeded to the mountains to 
indulge in his favorite sport, the hunt, the chase, or 
what you may choose to call it. They wandered 
about the mountains for a week, and at last came to 
a spot that seemed familiar. It was the glade in the 
gulch that afforded a glimpse of the hut where the 
destroyer of his happiness had once lived. He con- 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


121 


tem plated the hut from a distance, and again went 
over the drama that had but so recently been 
enacted. He approached it, drawn on by some in- 
visible influence, and the place brought up unpleas- 
ant memories. He listened and thought he heard 
voices. Suddenly the music of a piano greeted his 
ears. “ What, a piano in a hut in this wilderness ! ” 
He sat down and listened. Slowly the mystery 
began to unfold itself before him. 

“ That music explains all. It is Vivian’s playing. 
Here is where they are secluded. At last their 
hiding place is found, but I will break up their little 
romance. I shall come between them, as Vivian 
came between us. They shall now pay the debt of 
the transgressors.” 

That exquisite music identified the master. It 
echoed in the woods and filled the glen with melody. 
He entered noiselessly through the partially open 
door, and there was Octa with her back toward the 
door, her hair wonderfully arranged, a caricature of 
what it had once been, and he could catch a glimpse 
of Vivian’s profile, sharp and noble. 

Jules stood there for a moment like one transfixed, 
but slowly coming to a decision. He could scarcely 
believe his own eyes, and it was with difficulty that 
he persuaded himself that it was not a vision. He 
listened to the master’s touch. The intricate trills, 
the wild dashes pierced his ears, as Vivan’s bony 
hands danced upon the ivory keys like skeletons. 


122 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


Suddenly the music died away, the instrument became 
mute. Vivian arose to his full height directly, his 
head almost touching the ceiling, and cast a few 
affectionate glances at Octa, and then looked in the 
direction of the door with his penetrating eyes and 
beheld Jules, whose presence visibly startled him. 
Vivian advanced, greeting the intruder cordially, and 
extending his hand. 

“ Ah, my dear Mr. Charter. Let me welcome you 
to our humble home. You are my benefactor. To 
you I owe everything.” 

“ Yes, but with what ingratitude you have com- 
pensated me.” 

Octa now advanced, threw her arms around Jules’ 
neck and kissed him. This was too much for Jules, 
this pleonasm of affection. It carried him back to 
the courtship, the honeymoon. It had saved her life. 

“ My dear Jules. I hope you will forgive me. 
Do not use violence, I pray of you, for my sake con- 
done us.” 

“ But Octa, my dear Octa, you will kill me. This 
is no place for you. Come with me. Restore my 
happiness. If you decline to return with me you 
shall die.” 

Vivian returned to the piano and played uncon- 
cernedly, drowning their words. He did not know 
of the threat that Jules had made. 

Octa had slipped upon her knees and was sobbing 
bitterly. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


123 


“Yes, Jules, I will return, if you will forgive me 
and promise me that you will never mention or refer 
to the past.” 

“ I will forgive you since you are penitent.” 

“ But Vivian must not be molested.” 

“ No harm shall come to him at my hands. But 
we must hasten and go home to-day.” 

“ Jules, it is strange that you should come to-day. 
We had made preparations to leave to-morrow for 
South America, where Vivian is already billed to 
appear,” she said, in an undertone. 

“ Providence must have directed my steps hither.” 

Vivian still played on, but thinking of something 
far different than the music he was producing; at 
last he stopped, and Jules told him of Octa’s decision. 

“If that is your wish you can go. But one mo- 
ment. You shall taste some of my mountain tea. 
It will refresh you for your trip to the station.” 

“Yes,” said Octa, “he makes excellent tea.” 

Before Jules assented, Vivian disappeared and was 
absent for some time. Jules entertained Octa with 
news about her friends, or a train of reminiscences of 
their former life. After a long time he reappeared 
with two tiny cups of steaming tea in his hands, 
aromatic tea, made from a berry that grows in the 
mountains. He set the tea on top of the piano, and 
enjoined them to partake of it. Then he disappeared. 
Jules arose from the rustic chair, leaned over and 
kissed Octa, and then reached for a cup of the tea, 


124 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH 


nearest to him and passed it to Octa, who drank it 
down slowly. Jules then took the other cup and 
drank it also, commenting on its flavor. No sooner 
had Octa finished her tea, when she yawned and ex- 
claimed, drowsily : 

“ I am getting so sleepy that I cannot keep awake,” 
and started for a cot covered with furs, and as soon 
as she reached it she sank down upon it with a moan, 
which Jules supposed was due to mental anguish. 

Jules watched her as she closed her eyes. Vivian 
had not yet returned. Jules, considerate as ever, re- 
mained quiet for a while, only thinking that Octa 
wished to take a short nap before starting. Con- 
ceiving that it was time to start, he approached the 
primitive lounge and made an attempt to arouse 
her. He noticed a little foam had gathered around 
her pretty lips, but "she did not seem to be breathing, 
and when he gently touched her forehead there was 
no response. He seized hold of her, shook her 
violently, but she did not stir. 

“ I believe she is dying,” exclaimed J ules, growing 
pale and scrutinizing her pallid features for a sign 
of life. Vivian reappeared with ruffled hair and a 
marble countenance. 

“ Vivian, you have poisoned her,” said Jules, point- 
ing to the couch. 

“ It is not true. I revere her. How could it be 
possible for me to harm her. I would as soon inflict 
injuries upon myself. Have no fear. She will soon 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


125 


be herself again. The tea has acted as a narcotic. 
It has that effect upon her when her nerves are at a 
high tension.” 

Vivian bade Jules to remain in the cabin, promis- 
ing to return soon, and then he disappeared for the 
second time. Jules placed little faith in Vivian’s 
explanation. He placed his hand on her forehead. 
It w~as growing cold. 

“The doctor may yet save her,” he exclaimed, as 
he dashed out of the cabin down the mountain side. 
He fairly flew and nearly met with a terrible acci- 
dent that might have cost him his life. A precipice 
was in his path, and in his haste he nearly lept over 
it. It was not long before he reached the little ham- 
let, and darted into a physician’s office. He quickly 
related the object of his mission, and the necessity 
for extreme haste. He suggested to the doctor the 
advisability of being mounted as quickly as pos- 
sible. 

“But, my good man, I do not know the way. 
Where is the cabin ? ” 

“ By the time you are in your saddle, I will be 
mounted myself, and on hand to show you the way.” 

Before the doctor had found and prepared his 
medicine case and ordered his horse to the front door, 
Jules rode up to the physician’s office on a horse he 
had procured from the village tavern close at hand, 
and the two started for the oblique hillsides amid a 
cloud of fulvous dust. 


126 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


Vivian, in one appalling moment realized the 
enormity of the mistake that had been made, and 
how the fair Octa instead of the chosen Jules had 
drained the fatal contents. Folding his hands archly 
above her forehead, he regarded her sorrowfully with 
bleeding heart, while the color fled from his bronzed 
face, and then he exclaimed in a voice stifled with 
poignant emotion : 

“ My God, she has been slain with my own hands. 
Even death cannot separate us. I must follow her 
in death as I followed her in life, I cannot live with- 
out her. With her departed life is nothing to me. 
I have lost her forever.” 

He heard the metallic clatter of horse’s hoofs 
break into the cabin, and appropos prepared a cup of 
poison to sweep away his own miserable life that had 
now become heavy and burdensome. He uttered a 
brief but fervent prayer for the repose of his soul, 
for the expiation of his crime. The scenes and in- 
cidents of his life flashed before him like an illumi- 
nated procession. As his lips touched the green 
glossy looking liquid, it sent a shudder through him. 
It blinded him, staggered him, and it was with the 
utmost difficulty that he made his way into the 
cavern, where he crept into a subterranean chamber, 
which was to be his sepulchre, where his bones were 
to gather the mould of centuries unmolested. 

Non semper erit cestas. Here to-day and gone to- 
morrow. 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


127 


Passed from the living into his tomb prematurely. 
A life so full of promises thrown away. The brief 
reign of his genius was over, and those few who had 
become intimately acquainted with him, declared 
that they had never associated with a more charm- 
ing person. 

Jules and the doctor, in the interim, had reached 
the cabin, dismounted and proceeded within, and 
there on the cot she lay, just as Jules had left her, 
beautiful as ever. The smile on her face had not 
even expired. Jules saw yet a glimmer of hope — 
nil desperandum. “ She only sleeps,” he said, his 
eyes still fixed upon her. He awaited the doctor’s 
decision with intense anxiety. It needed but a mo- 
ment for the doctor to reach a decision that meant 
so much for Jules. 

“ Life has been extinct for at least an hour. 
There is evidence of poisoning,” said the physician, 
dropping his hands to his side like a semaphore. 

“ Doctor you did not know her in life, or else you 
could fathom my sorrow. What a wealth of beauty 
and love she possessed.” Jules turned his face from 
the doctor and looked out of the cabin door. 

The doctor became seated on the rude chair, as his 
interest became more and more rivetted on her 
strange career, which Jules was unfolding, while the 
tears, in spite of himself, came unbidden to his eyes. 

They searched the hut and the cave, but could 
find no trace of the erring Vivian. He had myste- 


128 


THE FLIRT TO DEATH. 


riously disappeared. His hiding place was secure. 
Jules found the boy still asleep in a corner of the 
cabin, where Octa pointed him out as he entered, 
sleeping on unconscious of the loss of his mother. 

And on the mountain side where the wild flowers 
grow, where the shadows of primeval trees shift and 
billow, wrapped in cerements, she found peace, and a 
noble mausoleum marks the spot to this day, records 
her obit, in memoriam . A few sapplings chafe 
against the iron fence that surrounds the monument, 
and supports a cobweb of woodbine. Each year 
Jules and the boy pay a visit to the lonely mountain 
spot, and reverently reposit garlands of roses upon the 
little mound that is now covered by a blanket of 
velvety moss finis coronat opus. 



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